ISLAMABAD: The Public Accounts Committee (PAC) of the Parliament Wednesday expressed concern over construction of coal power plants in the country saying it was causing environmental diseases among the citizens of Punjab.
The residents of Lahore, Sahiwal, Gujanwala and Gujrat were suffering from the diseases like TB and Asthama due to coal power projects, observed Syed Khursheed Shah during the PAC meeting that met under his chair.
The meeting was also attended by other members of the committee including Syed Naveed Qamar, Shafqat Mehmood, Raja Javed Ikhlas, Azam Sawati, Dr. Azra Fazal, Sherry Rehman and Mehmood Achakzai.
The officials of the Ministry of Energy briefed the PAC about electricity losses and audit paras raised by Auditor General of Pakistan Revenue (AGPR).
Committee chairman said coal projects should be instigated in deserted areas rather than in populated areas.
Raja Javed Ikhlas said it was the priority of the government to overcome power shortage in the country and it should not be hindered.
Secretary Ministry of Energy informed the body that national exchequer was facing electricity losses around Rs 210 billions per year. He said Rs 160 billion annual losses occur due to old transmission system while about Rs 60 billion losses were due to electricity theft in the country.
He said the government had set target to eliminate loadshedding till 2018, saying that once this goal is achieved then power generation could be shifted to sources other than the coal projects.
The secretary said the first unit of Port Qasim Coal power project would be commissioned till November 30, and it would add 660MW electricity to national grid system. He said government was working on many coal projects under China Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) to meet energy demands of the country.
He said the ministry was going to hire an international consultant to judge the country’s energy demands in next ten years. He said the Prime Minister had already directed to convert coal projects into oil and gas.
The PAC directed the ministry to introduce mechanism to address the complaints of consumers regarding over billing, payment expiry and others.
The secretary said there was need for institutional based arrangements to introduce a comprehensive and result oriented mechanism to address consumers’ complaints timely.
The committee also sought a report from the ministry regarding the contribution of various sources including coal, hydel and wind projects etc in electricity production in next meeting.
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