ISLAMABAD: A mega scheme to solarise 100,000 tube wells across Pakistan, at the cost of about Rs370 billion, has drawn cautious appraisals from experts who term it a ‘double-edged sword’. Towards the end of his tenure, then prime minister Shehbaz Sharif inaugurated the scheme, but the PC-1 of the umbrella project was only approved this month. As its cost is shared between the provincial governments and the centre, its implementation is being spearheaded by the Federal Water Management Cell, a department of the Ministry of National Food Security and Research. Sajid Altaf, a water management engineer working at the Federal Water Management Cell, who is also the chief architect of the project, said that the estimated cost to convert a single diesel-run tube well of 20 horsepower to solar power will be Rs2.6 million. WEB DESK
