LOWER DIR: Jamaat-i-Islami (JI) Pakistan former amir Sirajul Haq on Friday expressed grave concern over the inordinate delay in the completion of the Koto Hydropower Project in Lower Dir, despite the passage of a decade and massive expenditure.

Addressing an emergency press conference at Ahyaul Uloom, Balambat, accompanied by JI Lower Dir chief Maulana Asadullah, former MPA Saeed Gul, former tehsil nazim Imranuddin, JI district general secretary Shoaib Ahmad, party spokesperson Sher Bahadur, Noorul Wahab, Engineer Yaqoobur Rahman, and youth president Atiqur Rahman, Sirajul Haq said that despite spending over Rs14 billion on the project, the people of the region were still deprived of its benefits.

He termed the delay in the 40.8-megawatt Koto project as “criminal negligence” and demanded immediate activation of the project, which was launched in 2015 under the Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation (Pedo), and was originally scheduled for completion by 2019.

Sirajul Haq said that the Koto Hydropower Project besides Lower Dir held immense importance for the entire Khyber Pakhtunkhwa province. “It has the potential to meet local electricity need and supply surplus energy to the national grid, generating substantial revenue,” he said.

He urged the authorities concerned to resolve all technical and administrative issues immediately and ensure the project starts generating electricity without any further delay.

The former JI chief revealed that the project was expected to yield an annual revenue of Rs2 billion and could fully cater to Dir’s power needs. He also demanded a fair share in power royalty for the area.

Public and social circles also backed Sirajul Haq’s demand, urging the government to take prompt action to make the project operational.

Swat river incident: Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) Khyber Pakhtunkhwa North amir Inayatullah Khan has blamed the provincial government and district administration of Swat for the tragic deaths of over 15 tourists, who were swept away by flash flood in the Swat River near Fizagat Bypass, terming it ‘criminal negligence and governance failure’.

In a strongly-worded statement issued here on Friday, he said the victims, who were having breakfast at a riverside hotel, remained trapped in the river for over an hour, pleading for help, but no rescue team arrived in time.

He noted that despite prior flood alerts from the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA), the authorities failed to issue warnings or take preventive measures at tourist sites.

He demanded a high-level and impartial inquiry, criminal cases against responsible officials, financial support for affected families, and a strict action against illegal sand mafias.

Published in Dawn, June 28th, 2025