PESHAWAR
\nAs temperature soars across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), frequent power outages have left residents sparking frustration on social media and community platforms mostly in peripheries of Peshawar and Mardan divisions.
\nDespite vast potential of hydel power in KP, the load shedding and low voltage in Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan and Charsadda districts was affecting daily life.
\n\u201cI fear that edibles in my fridge may rot if there is long load shedding,\u201d said Riaz Khan, a consumer of Pabbi feeder in Nowshera district while talking to APP.
\n\u201cThis long intervals load shedding also affects students\u2019 studies currently appearing in matriculation examination in KP, businesses and other activities of life.\u201d
\nAlthough the government is consistently endeavoring to bridge the supply and demand gap during summer, people in many areas still face load shedding.
\nThese areas also include where the recovery is very low and as per policy the load shedding duration is more than normal areas.
\nMany have already installed solar panels and those not affording have to suffer pangs of load shedding.
\nPESCO officials told APP that KP was receiving about 1873MW electricity from the national grid while its demand remained about 3220 MW, facing a shortfall of 1347MW being fulfilled through load management in KP.
\nUnder aggregate technical and commercial losses (ATCL) formula, the official said the areas with high ATCL losses such as Bannu, rural areas of Peshawar including Warak Road, Chagarmathi and Regi and DI Khan district were facing long hours load shedding.
\n\u201cThere is no load shedding at Hayatabad and Gulbahar Peshawar due to high recovery ratio and lack of Kunda culture,\u201d he said.
\n\u201cThe key factor behind long hours load shedding are power thefts through direct hooks, outdated power distribution system and non-construction of large dams.\u201d
\nIn spite of thousands of Mega Watt hydel power potential in Pakistan including Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, this key resource has not been fully tapped due to ill energy policies by the past rulers, resulting the deepening energy crisis today. Even after the slogan of constructing 200 dams by the previous PTI government, nothing concrete was done.
\nHowever, the present government is taking necessary measures to exploit this potential, but the follies of decades may not be rectified in months.
\n\u201cDue to global warming and climate change glaciers in our northern areas are melting fast and construction of dams was inevitable to store this water for domestic and agriculture consumption,\u201d remarked Dr. Zilakat Malik, former Chairman, Economics Department at University of Peshawar.
\nHe said that plenty of sites on rivers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were suited for construction of dams, especially small and medium ones to tap the province\u2019s 30,000MW hydel power potential.
\nEngr Zahoor Hussain, Director Projects, Wapda (North) said that over 90 percent work on multipurpose Kurram Tangi (Stage-1) Bannu and North Waziristan inaugurated by the then Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif has been completed and after inauguration it would add more power to national grid.
\nAsian Development Bank assisted Wapda in completion of design and feasibility study of Kurram-Tangi Dam (stage-II). The large dam would store around 1.2 million acre feet water besides generating 80.9MW electricity.
\nHe said, 108MW Golen Gol dam in Chitral has been completed and work on 800MW Mohmand dam on river Swat with 1.293 MAF water storage capacity has been expedited. \u201cThis mega dam would help irrigate 160,000 acres existing land and about 18,237 acres of new area with annual benefits of Rs2.23 billion.\u201d
\nLikewise, he informed, 300 million gallons drinking water per day would also be provided to Peshawar as Mohmand dam would also save Peshawar, Charsadda and Nowshera from floods.
\nEngr Zahoor also mentioned to expediting construction work on Dasu Hydropower Project on River Indus in Kohistan that would provide 4320MW electricity.\u201dDasu project will be developed in two stages. Stage-I will generate 2160MW while stage-Il to be completed in five years.\u201d
\nMeanwhile, construction work on a high voltage direct current (HVDC) convertor station was in progress at Azakhel Bala Nowshera district under the CASA-1000 Project for transmission of 1300 MW inexpensive, clean and environment-friendly electricity from Kyrgyzstan and Tajikistan via Afghanistan to Pakistan.
\nAccording to KP Energy Department, 36.6MW Daral Khwar HPP Madain Swat has been completed and electricity generation would bring in over Rs1.3 billion annually. Moreover, 300MW Balakot HPP worth Rs 85 billion approved by ECNEC on River Kunhar in Mansehra would also be a good addition.
\nEngr Zahoor said Gomal Zam Dam in South Waziristan with a capacity to store 114,000 cubic feet water has already started generating power and water for irrigation.
\n\u201cThe Gomal Zam dam with about 17.4 MW power generation potential besides benefiting 25,000 households has been formally handed over to Wapda for operation.
\nThe first unit of Suki Kinari Hydropower Station with 221 MW capacity constructed on river Kunhar in Manshera district has successfully achieved synchronization and started generating power to local communities.
\nThe Suki Kinari project would generate 884MW of electricity. The experts said that these hydel projects would help provide much needed relief to consumers besides expediting the pace of economic and agricultural growth in the country.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
PESHAWAR As temperature soars across Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), frequent power outages have left residents sparking frustration on social media and community platforms mostly in peripheries of Peshawar and Mardan divisions. Despite vast potential of hydel power in KP, the load shedding and low voltage in Peshawar, Nowshera, Mardan and Charsadda districts was affecting daily life. […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[7],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-473748","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-peshawar"},"yoast_head":"\n