CM inaugurates 36MW power unit

MINGORA: Khyber Pakhtun-khwa Chief Minister Mahmood Khan inaugurated 36 megawatts Daral Khwar Hydropower unit in Bahrain tehsil in Swat district on Saturday.

Talking to reporters, the chief minister said that it was a moment of pride that the province had established the unit through its own resources.

He maintained that through power generation unit, the provincial government would earn Rs1200 million revenue per annum.

The provincial government of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa had initiated various projects to generate electricity including 84mw Matiltan Hydropower Project and 110mw Gabral-Kalam project, he added.

“Thousands of megawatts electricity can be generated from the rivers of northern areas of Pakistan. And we have accelerated work in the energy sector,” he said, adding, that the provincial government would use its resources to generate more electricity and energy.

The minister said that Almighty Allah has bestowed the region with natural resources that need to be tapped.

“We will translate into reality the agriculture sector development, small and medium enterprises and industrialisation along with provision of electricity to all within the region. This water resources would also be used for the promotion of tourism as tourism would be promoted as an industry adding that the scenic beauty of Swat, Malakand and Hazara have all the prerequisites to attract tourists, he said, adding, the local tourists, the overseas Pakistani and foreign tourists would be attracted that would boost tourism.

He said development is linked to the durable peace and national cohesion which is the vision of PTI at national level and we are working on these lines.

Mahmood Khan pledged that his government would work for the development of tourism and to improve the socio-economic condition of the people of the region.

During visit to the project, the chief minister was accompanied by Federal Minister for Communications Murad Saeed, MNA Salim Khan and other elected representatives.

According to the schedule, the chief minister was supposed to address a public gathering at Bahrain. However, he left for Peshawar early due to bad weather.

Meanwhile, locals staged a protest and blocked the road for some time while chanting slogans against the chief minister. The area residents demanded development package for the scenic valleys of Bahrain and Kalam.

They said that Kalam road was being ignored for a long time and people were facing problems.