Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif inaugurated the 102-megawatt Gulpur Hydropower Plant in Kotli district of Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK) on Thursday.
The Gulpur Hydropower Plant is a run-of-the-river hydroelectric generation project located on Poonch River, a major tributary of Jhelum River near Gulpur in Kotli District.
The project is expected to be completed in four years at a cost of US $320 million.
Addressing the groundbreaking ceremony, PM Nawaz said 33 percent work on the project had already been completed.
The prime minister said that the federal government was sincere in its efforts to resolve the energy crisis that has crippled the economy.
The duration of loadshedding has been brought down from 12 hours to six hours, he claimed.
He added that the government intends not to just end the energy crisis but also make electricity more affordable for the people.
“If we are unable to provide inexpensive electricity then I think we would have failed in our duty to serve the people,” he said.
He also said that the people should pay attention to which party was doing constructive politics and which political party was trying to hinder development.
Speaking about the opposition Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI), the prime minister remarked that not accepting the results of the recent elections showed the immaturity of some politicians.
“You said that polls were rigged on this constituency. New elections were held and the results are in front of everyone. Yet you do not accept these results either,” he said.
“Now how can we make them accept these?”
Speaking about the Okara by-election, he said that the surety bonds of the PTI candidate were confiscated while the contest was between two Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) candidates.
He also blamed the PTI of trying to sabotage the Kissan package announced by the government.
Sharif vowed that the PML-N government would take the country to such levels of development that opponents would not be able to compete in the 2018 general elections.
The prime minister further said, “Azad Kashmir (AJK) should get its due right”.
He asserted that the government plans to build a host of small and big hydropower projects to address the issue of electricity shortage.
