Prime Minister Imran Khan Thursday blamed the previous rulers for the costliest electricity in the world despite the fact that Pakistan was endowed with tremendous natural resources.
"Despite the fact that Pakistan has a huge natural resource of water and the potential to generate cheap hydel power, the country is producing the costliest electricity in the world and it is due to costly contracts the past rulers had signed," he told a gathering after performing the ground-breaking of $807 million Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project (T-5) under the government's ‘Decade of Dams 2018-28’ vision.
"The burden of costly contracts made the people of Pakistan pay a heavy price," he said, adding the Pakistani industries were being provided costly electricity, making them unable to compete in the global market without subsidy.
The World Bank (WB) and the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank (AIIB) are providing $390 million and $300 million respectively for the project that would be completed by 2024.
Referring to China, the prime minister said the future-oriented planning was the approach that the Chinese followed, while the rulers in Pakistan remained confined to making election-to-election planning that had pushed the nation to face the prevailing challenges.
He stressed the need for the timely completion of Dasu and Diamer-Bhasha dams saying the silt flowing towards the Tarbela and other dams would slow down and the operational capacity of the reservoirs augmented.
The premier said the Tarbela 5th Extension Hydropower Project would add to the life of dam, as the sediment accumulated in the reservoir was a few miles from the main dam. "The Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf government is committed to building 10 dams in 10 years, including Diamer-Bhasha and Dasu dams," he said, adding these projects would not only help the country to have cheap hydel electricity, but also increase water storage for agriculture.
Imran said construction of Mohmand Dam would be completed by 2025 while Diamer-Bhasha Dam was expected to be ready by 2028. Earlier, the prime minister was given a detailed briefing on the project by Chairman Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Lt. Gen. (R) Muzamil Hussain.
It was informed that the T-5 Hydropower Project would enhance the life of the Tarbela Dam by addressing the issue of sedimentation and ensuring sustainable irrigation releases.
The prime minister was told that the project would generate another 1530MW of low cost and environmentally-friendly electricity. With completion of T-5, installed capacity of Tarbela Dam would increase from 4,888 MW to 6,418 MW.
He was informed that T-5 would provide 1.347 billion units of low-cost and green energy to the national grid on average every year. The project will also generate around 3,000 employment opportunities during the construction phase, it was added.
The premier also planted a sapling of pine to mark the event. National Assembly Speaker Asad Qaiser, federal ministers Umar Ayub Khan, Ch. Moonis Ilahi, Minister of State for Information and Broadcasting Farrukh Habib, Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Governor Shah Farman and Chief Minister Mahmood Khan were also present on the occasion.
