PESHAWAR: Secretary Energy and Power, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Nisar Ahmad Khan paid an emergency visit to Daral Khawar Power Station, district Swat reviewed rehabilitation work on the flood affected 36.6 megawatt hydel power project.

The devastating floods in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the year 2022 and the current year 2024 caused severe damages to the 36.6 MW Daral Khawar power stations in Swat district.

However, the Department of Energy and Power and its subsidiary Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organization (PEDO) has restored the affected power plant on an emergency basis. It has been re-connected with the National Grid. However, the construction of the Protection Wall will be completed soon to protect the power plant from future flooding.

During a briefing on this occasion, the Secretary Energy and Power was told that the power station under the supervision of PEDO was successfully completed by a team of Chinese and local engineers in 2021, which is earning Rs1.3 billion annually to the province. However, the power plant suffered severe damage due to the catastrophic floods in 2022 and later in April 2024.

Secretary Power Nisar Ahmad Khan, who is also serving as acting Chief Executive Officer PEDO, inspected the spillway, sand trap, power channel, switch yard and other parts of Daral Khawar Power House, inspected and also issued necessary instructions to keep the power house safe from future flood situation.

Secretary urged the concerned authorities to complete the recruitment process immediately to overcome the shortage of technical staff in the power plant. Speaking on the occasion, Nisar Ahmad Khan said that Daral Khawar is a profitable asset of the province, which generates billions of rupees annually, so the construction of the protective wall should be completed soon before the next monsoon.

He urged that work should be done immediately because even a slight delay may affect the production of the power plant.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2024