Hydropower project for Kalash valley

CHITRAL, June 20: With the financial assistance of USAID, a Chitral-based NGO, Rural Community Development Programme (RCDP), will complete a hydropower project in the Kalash valley of Bumburate in a short span of nine months at a cost of Rs21 million. Talking to the local media here on Tuesday, the project coordinator of RCDP, Engineer Taimur Shah, said the power station had a generation capacity of 250 kilowatts and it will cover the major fraction of the Kalash community in the valley. He said that a tremendous potential of hydro-power generation exists in all the three Kalash valleys but all it goes unutilized and RCDP has determined to exploit the resources to raise the life standard of the community. Mr. Shah said that the hydro-power generation will save the oak and deodar forest of the valleys from the impending danger depletion as the local people ruthlessly use the wood as a source of fuel for household use. He said that the local community was being included in the executing process of the project and it will further improve their social organization. He said that the news of the approval of the project brought untold happiness among the Kalash people across the valley.–Zahiruddin]]>