Chitral residents vow to get destroyed power house reconstructed

CHITRAL: Disappointed with the government inaction to reconstruct the Reshun power house destroyed by flash floods a year ago, the residents of various villages on Friday announced to launch a protest campaign to press the government to restore the facility.

Speaking at a press conference here, district councillor Maulana Abdul Rehman, tehsil councillors Abdul Qayyum Khan, Muhammad Sharif Khan and social workers Maulana Akhundzada Rahmatullah, Muhammad Saleem Sherwani and others said that gushing water washed away a power house in Reshun.

They said that up to 150,000 population of the area had been living without power for a year due to non-repair of the power house.

The residents came down hard on the local elected representatives and the government for failing to reconstruct the facility. They said the consumers were faced with host of problems due to non-restoration of the power house.

The elders said that the residents were disappointed by the cold shoulder response of the elected representatives and government towards the issue.  They said that restoration cost of the power house was less than Rs.1 billion.

The councillors the provincial government distributed Rs907 million worth solar panels among 10 percent population of the area but didn't restore the powerhouse.  They said the dwellers of Ragh village, Trich, Torkhow and Mastuj would gather in Reshun on May 15 and would decide future course of action. They said that a proposal to collect donations from the consumers and reconstruct the facility on self-help basis was also under consideration.