CM wants work on hydel power generation projects expedited

PESHAWAR: Chief Minister Mahmood Khan has directed for the accelerated execution of hydel power generation projects in the province.

He was presiding over a meeting at the Chief Minister’s Secretariat, said an office handout.

Advisor to chief minister on Energy Himayatullah Khan, Head of the Strategic Support Unit Sahibzada Saeed, Secretary Energy & Power, commissioner Peshawar and other relevant officers were there.

The chief minister said the government would set up a separate model institution for the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor-related projects in the province.

He said the Chashma Lift Irrigation Scheme would boost agriculture productivity and self-sufficiency in food requirement and promote agro-economy.

Mahmood Khan directed to get approval from EPA for 36 megawatt Dral, 17 Mega Watt Ranolia, 2.6 Mega Watt Machia. He asked the departments to own projects and ensure timely completion of these projects. The chief minister said the importance of CPEC should not be overshadowed by other consideration, therefore, CPEC would be the focus of our all times attention.

He directed to continue working on CPEC related projects round the clock as we have to work harder for the growth in all sectors in the province.

Mahmood Khan directed for the early execution and timely completion of hydropower generation projects to strengthen the economic base of the province.

He gave guidelines for the use of electricity to be generated through hydel power projects in the province for the industrialisation within the province on cheap prices that will attract mass scale investment and in the process, this province would record mass scale investment, industrialization, jobs creation and overall prosperity.

The chief minister assured to launch own transmission company. The Gadoon Industrial Estate would get 28 megawatt of electricity produced through Pehur hydropower projects of the province that would make the industries in the Gadoon industrial estate viable.

He assured to take up NTDC and CCPA related issues with the federal government. He directed for a comprehensive research-oriented plan for the hydel power generation including Chitral where 3000 megawatt of electricity could be generated from Chitral alone.

The chief minister also directed for the rapid execution and completion of government to government projects that included FWO, Korean projects, Syno-Hydro and KHNP project.

Widow of Pashto poet appeals to PAL: The widow of noted Pashto poet Azam Khan aka Azam Da Kurwai, has asked the Pakistan Academy of Letters (PAL), Islamabad not to stop her quarterly stipend, which she feared may be discontinued because she could not fill in a form sent by the authorities concerned.

Zar Pari Bibi, 66, told The News that she had received a quarterly stipend on behalf of her husband.

She said she couldn’t fill out a form sent to her by PAL, Islamabad, asking for details of her properties and manuscripts of her late husband.

According to her, the form warned that if she did not fill it, her stipend would be stopped from next quarter.

Noted Pashto poet Azam Khan had contributed to Pashto literary magazines and Pashto newspapers including Olas, Jamhoor-i-Islam, Laar, Baang-i-Haram and Shahbaz.

He also wrote features for Radio Pakistan, Peshawar on various social issues. He was contemporary of Hamza Baba, Dost Mohammad Khan Kamil, Qalandar Momand, and Ajmal Khattak.

“My husband Azam Khan was a known Pashto poet and writer and one of his Pashto poetry collections titled ‘Da Ghalbail Zrrah Fariyad’ way back in 1963, and another ‘Da Watan Meena’ was ready for publication but couldn’t be published owing to his poverty and illness. On December 10, 2018, I received two forms from PAL, each asking for details of my husband’s manuscripts and properties,” Pari recalled.

She feared she would lose the quarterly stipend, with which she could only afford to buy medicines.

The elderly woman appealed to the director general and PAL Islamabad chairman to take notice of her problem in the wake of her old age and sickness and also conduct verification of her husband’s publications and literary contributions on its own.