Pause and ponder

This refers to the article, ‘Coal power’ (Mar 26) by Dr Farrukh Saleem. The writer has mentioned that China is doing away with its coal-based power plants to improve its environmental conditions while we are installing these plants in Pakistan by spending a colossal amount of money through CPEC funds. Why is China closing its coal-fired power plants worth billions of dollars and why are we installing these plants with the help of the same country? Coal-burning factories located around Beijing with their inefficient and out-dated technologies are a major contributor towards generation of smog in the city.

Apart from environmental concerns, our government should know that the generation of power through coal-fired plants is an extremely expensive proposition. We have already been a victim of circular debt to the tune of Rs480 billion – a gift by the last PPP government – which was cleared by the incumbent government right after coming to power. Now, another circular debt of Rs414 billion has resurfaced. Let us hope that a third circular debt – due to the import of coal – does not emerge. It is important to mention that we are blessed with coal deposits – to the tune of 184 billion tonnes – in the Thar desert. We also need to make use of hydro-power to generate electricity. By tapping our wind power potential alone in Sindh, we can generate 50,000 MW of power.

Air-Cdre (r) Azfar A Khan

Karachi