KP CM promises 700 more power schemes if voted to power again

NOWSHERA/MARDAN: Announcing to build 700 more community-run power schemes in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa if voted to power, Chief Minister Pervez Khattak on Thursday said that the opponents of Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) had launched propaganda against Imran Khan for his remarks about 300 dams.

Speaking at the oath-taking ceremony of the Nowshera Bar here on Thursday, he said that PTI-led government had set up 356 small dams and community-run hydel power stations to provide electricity to the villages that remained deprived of electricity.

Besides catering to the local needs, these small schemes produced 74 megawatts surplus electricity, he said. The surplus should have been added to the national grid, he said, adding, but the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) purchased 20 megawatts and had been using delaying tactics in the purchase of the remaining 54 megawatts.

“Both the country and province would benefit if the federal government showed seriousness in purchasing the electricity,” he said. Pervez Khattak also announced construction of 700 more community-run power schemes when the party comes into power after the next general election. He said the electricity generated from these micro-hydel stations would be provided to the consumer at Rs2 per unit. The chief minister said that PTI had prepared a plan for laying its own electricity transmission lines to end the province’s dependence on the federal government.

He said the PTI next government would put an end to the power outages in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and would ensure uninterrupted power supply to industries. Pervez Khattak said that his government had developed a policy for creating jobs in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and had announced attractive packages for investors and industrialists.