Wapda Chairman Tariq Hameed has said that to provide uninterrupted electricity supply to the Wapda consumers, the system was being upgraded and assured that during the summer there would be no load shedding, except break downs.
He expressed these views was talking to newsmen after Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony between Gujranwala Electric Supply Company (Gepco) and the Bank of Punjab here on Monday. Under the MoU, the bank would give Rs 1 million to Gepco for maintenance of the existing infrastructure and the extension project.
The chairman disclosed that the second alternative transmission line of Ghazi Brotha Hydro Power Project of 220 KV from Rawaat to Lahore via Mandi Bahauddin has been completed, while the third one from Rawaat to Muzaffarghar would be completed by the end of this year.
"After the completion of these alternative lines, major power breakdowns would be eliminated from the country," he added.
On Balochistan, he said that Wapda had to bear a loss of Rs 30 million caused by various terrorist attacks on its installations. He informed the newsmen that during the recent terrorist attacks 14 electric towers had been devastated, while one Wapda employee was killed and another seriously injured. However, with the co-operation of the local governments in Balochistan, Wapda was carrying out the maintenance work on its damaged installations, he added.
Gepco Chief Executive Brigadier Saif Ullah Khalid (Retd) said that the extension project would be completed in five years at a cost of Rs 10 million. "In the first year, Rs 1 million would be invested and Gepco was negotiating with the World Bank for the remaining amount of Rs 9 million," he added.