Worsening law & order: Work on hydropower projects suspended in July last

PESHAWAR: A meeting was told on Monday that Chinese engineers had suspended work on hydropower projects in Swat and Shangla districts in July 2022 due to worsening law and order.

An official handout said that Energy and Power Secretary Nisar Ahmad Khan chaired the meeting. Special Secretary Energy Tashfeen Haider, Chief Executive Officer PEDO Engineer Naeem Khan, Deputy Commissioner Swat Junaid Khan, District Police Officer Shangla Aqeeq Hussain, SDPO Swat Akbar Hayat, Chief Planning Officer Ayaz Khan and other senior officers attended it.

The meeting asked the security agencies to make foolproof security arrangements. The handout said an integrated strategy would be adopted for the timely completion of hydropower projects worth billions of rupees.

PEDO Chief Executive Engineer Naeem Khan, while briefing the participants of the meeting, said that the team of Chinese engineers working on 84 megawatts Mitiltan hydropower project in Swat suspended the work and moved to Islamabad in July 2022 due to the security situation.

The meeting was informed that a team of Chinese experts had also stopped work on the 11.8 megawatts Karora hydropower project in Shangla district since May 2022. The construction work on the project, the meeting was told, had come to a standstill and it was feared that due to the security threat situation and the delay could cause heavy losses to the province.

The participants of the meeting, discussed various options to improve the security arrangements. Bullet-proof vehicles for foreign engineers would be arranged and foolproof security arrangements ensured, the meeting was told.

At the end of the meeting, Secretary Energy Nisar Ahmad Khan said that the provincial government should adopt a well-planned security strategy including establishing of close contacts with the relevant district administration, police and other agencies so that work on the energy projects may not suffer.