Rs 70 million recovered from power defaulters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Abid Sher

Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali Wednesday said that an amount of Rs 70 million has recovered from defaulters in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the period of last three months. However, he said that most of the recovery was paid by defaulters from Hazara Division.
Addressing a press conference here in Governor's House, he said the good policies of the federal government have resulted in considerable increase in recoveries from electricity defaulters. The Minister of State lauded the efforts of both Governor and Chief Minister Khyber Pakhtunkhwa for their efforts in recovery from the defaulters and said that efforts are underway to complete and achieve the recovery target by June.
For the resolution of the energy crisis the federal government has started long term projects to overcome the energy crisis and supply uninterrupted power to industrial and agricultural sectors and usher progress and development in the country. He said the World Bank has approved a loan of $700 million for construction of Dasu hydro-electric power project, adding that Dasu Dam is crucial project for meeting the energy needs of Pakistan with a potential to generate 4200MW of cheap electricity. Upon completion, it will substantially increase the generation capacity of the country, reduce subsidies, change the fuel mix and bring down the cost of electricity generation, he asserted. The Minister of State claimed that the federal government has initiated several projects in one year including work on two projects of 600 MW power in Port Qasim and completion of Nandipur Power plant in record seven months period.
He dispelled the impression that WAPDA was involved in any kind of discrimination in power supply to province and said that on the directives of Prime Minister of Pakistan each and every feeder is being monitored to avoid unjust with any province. Abid Sher said that Tarbela expansion project, Diamer Bhasha dam and Dasu dam projects would considerably reduce electricity load-shedding in the country. In addition to these, he said the government has allocated Rs 25 billion for completion of five-year projects in the provinces. Speaking on the occasion, Governor Khyber Pakhtunkhwa emphasised upon working together for better Pakistan.