PEDO drags its feet on supplying power to upper Chitral

BOONI: Member Tehsil Council Mastuj Sardar Hakim has said the Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (PEDO) failed to complete its projects and resolve the power crisis in upper Chitral, especially Booni.
Talking to ChitralToday here, Mr Hakim said the previous Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI)-led KP government also remained noncommittal in resolving the energy crisis in the area.

He said a 500 kilowatt power station was completed at Dumadomi in Awi through the SRSP and in partnership with the local community and the contractor had handed it over to the government but it was yet to be made functional to supply electricity to the consumers.

He wondered why the government was still silent over the non-functional powerhouse established at a cost of millions of rupees. The power station is now gives the look of a ghost house instead of being utilized to end loadshedding in the area, he added.

He also said that the previous KP government had signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU) with the Asian Development Bank (ADB) to set up new micro-hydel powerhouses in the province, including Chitral, but the authorities concerned of PEDO did not launch work on the projects so far,

Besides, PEDO authorities are also not serious in supplying electricity to upper Chitral from the  Golen Gol power project on different excuses. Mr Hakim said PEDO neither had transmission lines nor transformers or meters and it also had no office in Booni where the consumers could get their issues resolved.

The member tehsil council called upon the provincial government and the PEDO authorities to take stringent measures in order to end the power crisis in the area.