Protests planned if Upper Chitral is not linked to Golen Gol

ChitralToday, Tehreek leader from Mulkhow Muhammad Younus Lal said the National Assembly Standing Committee on Power was holding a meeting in Chitral on Dec 28 in which WAPDA and PEDO officials were also invited. But he said PEDO, the provincial government’s power organization, was not likely to attend the meeting. The meeting was expected to take a decision regarding handing over of the transmission lines in Upper Chitral from PEDO to WAPDA so that the latter can provide electricity to Upper Chitral from Golen Gol. It may be noted that the Golen Gol powerhouse is a project of WAPDA. However, it seems that the provincial government is not in a mood to pave the way for linking Upper Chitral to Golen Gol. The KP government is of the view that it has already provided solar power panels and generators to Upper Chitral to resolve the power crisis caused by the destruction of Reshun powerhouse by floods in 2015. But sources say some PTI leaders in Chitral wanted to create hurdles in the supply of power from Golen Gol to Upper Chitral because if allowed MNA Shahzada Iftikharudin would be claiming credit for it. But the Tehreek leader said the people of Upper Chitral have been without power since 2015 and have equal right on the Golen Gol electricity. He said the Tehreek had announced a protest for Dec 28 but delayed it as the NA committee was scheduled to meet the same day. He said if there was no progress, the protest would be launched in the first week of January.  ]]>