Daily Times

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister (PM) Nawaz Sharif’s announcements for making Pakistan a country free of load shedding by 2018 have proved to be only tall claims.

The government has failed to initiate 94 per cent of the energy projects during the current fiscal year of 2015-16. No practical steps are being undertaken by the government to rein in the energy crisis despite the launching of a Rs 622 million publicity campaign during the previous fiscal year.

According to documents available with the Daily Times the government had announced 145 power projects during the current fiscal year 2015-16 to end the energy crisis and a sum of Rs over 0.113 trillion was allocated for this purpose.

But work has started on only eight projects despite a lapse of 10 months. Rs 56.90 billion were released for these projects during the fiscal year 2015-16. On the other hand no funds have been released for 137 projects which have not started due to lack of funds.

Rs 10 billion were released for the recovery of Diamer Bhasha dam land, Rs 22.50 billion for LNG power project Balloki, Rs 22.5 billion for LNG Haveli Bahadar Shah, Rs 90 million for a transmission line from Matiari to Lahore, Rs 42.6 million for a Sui grid station transmission line, Rs 131.7 million for Ghulam Jan transmission line and Rs 74 million for Dera Bugti village.

The projects on which work has not started include Dasu Hydro power project, Chitral-Golan hydro power project, Neelum-Jhelum Hydro power project, Mangla dam power upgradation section, Tarbella dam fourth extension of the power plant, Warsak power section, coal power project of CPEC in Gwadar, CPEC deep sea Gwadar port project, power distribution project, LESCO, IESCO and others.

The power short fall has reached 4000 megawatts and load shedding has extended to over 12 to 18 hours with the advent of the summer season in the country.