Golen Gol project: 30 megawatt royalty for Chitral demanded

PESHAWAR, Aug 19: Former MNA Abdul Akbar Chitrali on Monday asked the government to set up a grid station at Shoghor and provide 30 megawatt electricity to Chitral as a royalty for the Golen Gol powerhouse. Speaking at a press conference at Peshawar Press Club, he said: “The people of Chitral deserved at least 33 megawatt electricity from the local powerhouse. At present, Chitral is given only five megawatt which could not meet even the basic demand of the people.” He warned that if the electricity generated in Chitral was supplied to the grid station in Timergara, the people would not allow it. Mr Chitrali said construction of a grid station was right of the people of Chitral but it was initiated at Timergara and thus created serious unrest among the people of Chitral. He warned that the people of Chitral would agitate if they were denied the supply of 30 megawatts electricity from the Golen Gol project. Flanked by other elders of Chitral including some former Nazims, Maulana Chitrali said the 106-MW Golen Gol Hydropower Project was a part of the least-cost energy generation plan being executed by WAPDA on priority with financial assistance three-brotherly Islamic states, which include Saudi Arabia, Kuwait and United Arab Emirates in the district Chitral. He maintained that about 80 per cent work was completed at the project. The former MNA said the contract of the project was also awarded to blue-eyed people for power transmission lines through Golen Gol Hydropower project to other parts of the country by ignoring the local contactors. I]]>