- PM wants Diamer-Bhasha dam project to be started soon, orders land acquisition by July 31
- Loading shedding reduced to 6 hours in urban areas and 8 hours in rural, CCE told
Chairing the 14th meeting of Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCE) at Prime Minister’s House on Friday, Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif issued directions for speeding up power recoveries and taking tangible steps for controlling power theft.
The premier also directed the concerned ministries to look into the possibility of increased supply of gas to Guddu Power Plants that would add more than 700 MW of electricity by October 2015.
Ordering that work on Diamer-Bhasha dam, a project of “immense national importance”, be started as soon as possible, PM Sharif said that acquisition of land for the dam should be complete by July 31. He asked WAPDA chairman to present complete project proposal with timelines in the next meeting of the cabinet.
Moreover, the premier ordered formation of a parliamentary committee for holding an enquiry into suspected irregularities committed in purchase of land for Diamer-Bhasha project.
The meeting, which lasted for more than three hours, was given a detailed presentation on electricity load management and recoveries by Water and Power secretary.
The meeting was informed that this year’s average load shedding was six hours daily in urban areas, and eight hours in rural, with the exception of those areas where “recoveries are too less”. On industrial feeders, average power load shedding has been four hours, the briefing added.
The petroleum minister briefed the meeting on the progress on LNG-based power plants. He said that LNG would cost even less than furnace oil.
On the occasion, the prime minister gave approval of converting power plants running on diesel and furnace oil to LNG.
The meeting was also informed about installation of subsidized tube-wells in Balochistan. Water and Power secretary also briefed the meeting on access to solar power in rural Balochistan.
