Daily Times

As the people of both Upper and Lower Chitral remain against one another on the division of electricity of Golen Gol Hydropower House (GGHPH) it might ask for an uprising in the valley.

The GGHPH considered to produce 108 mega words (MW) of electricity coasting RS 29.1 billion, initially generated 36 MW with its first unit in January 2018.

Regardless, in the occupant time, it delivers just 7 MW because of the harm of its some water channels, which were incited by a flood in July a year ago.

Lower Chitral which comprises of Chitral Town and Drosh needs 7 and 8 MW, respectively, while the partially new district of Upper Chitral requires 5-6 MW.

Then, Upper Chitral continues to face high load shedding while the Lower minor as comparatively. While, the present limit of 7 MW being separated as 6 MW for Chitral Town and Drosh while the staying 1 MW for Upper Chitral.

When the current capacity of light is far less than the actual need of Upper Chital, it compelled the locals to arrange multiple gatherings followed by a large gathering in Booni on February 3, the headquarter of the partially new district. The member of provincial assembly (MPA) Maulana Hidayatur Rehman then joined the social affair, and promised to settle the issue.

On Feb 4, the MPA presided a meeting with  Tehreek Huqooq -e-Awam  Upper Chitral, the ones who are voicing for the rights of Upper Chitral, and with other officials include Assistant Commissioner Upper Chitral and officials from PEDO (Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation). In the meeting it was decided to equally distribute the 7 MW amid Upper and Lower Chitral. Which will be 3.5 MW for each.

But, PEDO which lacks seriousness about the distribution of electricity in Chitral, kept on being so. Later in 2017  when the National Assembly Standing Committee on Power held a meeting over providing electricity from GGHPH to Chitral, the PEDO officials didn’t feel to attend it. Meanwhile, PEDO is the only electricity distributor in Chitral.

Consequently, in the response on Feb 7, different representatives from Lower Chitral asked to sustain the current schedule of electricity, otherwise — warned of sitting and complete strike.

The Tehreek Huqooq -e-Awam Upper Chitral momentarily seeing no implementation of pledges went for a meeting on Feb 15, and gave an ultimatum of 7 days for the equal distribution of light, otherwise — threatened the authoritative to be ready for dire consequences. Meanwhile, asked to corporate voluntarily in the account to build the broken water channels, if the commanding lack funds.

It is pertinent to reference here since the GGHPH being prepared for use, ostensibly the people of the whole Chitral but the especially the Upper one’s  found it hard to get their share of electricity.

The people of Upper Chitral allowed to facilitate from GGHPH when they persisted verbally in like of the marathon of sitting, amid late in 2017 to early 2018.

Fact says, that since 2015 substantial flood brought a powerhouse run under PEDO into dust. Subsequently more than 70pc of Upper Chital remained to deprive from any proper command of electricity for three years.

Around then, the then Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in his visit to Chitral dawn in 2016 made it clear that the first unit of GGHPH will be available only for Chitral.

Background

The Saudi funded 108MW project of GGHPH administered under Wapda, which was originally planned to start in 1996. However,  construction being initiated in 2002 with a completion deadline of 2011. Its approved cost was estimated at Rs7bn in 2002 but was revised to Rs29.1bn in September 2016.

The project once bit full achievement it will provide Rs436 million units of electricity to the National Grid every year. Besides benefitting Rs.3.7 billion annually.

On 18 January 2018, the substation started to generate 36 MW which was then labeled as “three times more than the need of Chitral valley and Chitral the first of load-shedding free region in Pakistan” by Water and Power Development Authority’s (Wapda) chairman retired Lt Gen Muzammil Hussain.

In the interim, Mr. Hussain equally vowed that in March 2018 the second unit of 36MW would be started followed by the third and last unit in May (2018).

But, according to reports the powerhouse initially produced just 10 MW. As per up to the date, there are only a 3-meter reader and a total number of 37 workers working in the 109 MW plant.

Be that as it may, in 2016 nearly a year before the completion of the powerhouse, the chief consultant Mr. George placed his resignation. As indicated by media reports, that his directions on the issue of transmission at the Lawari Top to the development of water channels were constantly ignored by Wapda.

On the other hand, Chitral — a region that is being declared as defenseless to all-natural disasters. That has 543 glaciers spreading over 4,000 square kilometers among which 116 have been declared as sensitive and 10 as hyper-sensitive. And yet during the laying of transmission line in excess of 1600 trees were being cut off in Broze, a village adjacent to Chitral town.

Knowingly after all such battle the area still — being put on the edge of fundamental living services and strikingly from — that is locally constructed.