Secretary Energy and Power Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, Nisar Ahmad Khan has said that development work on 300mega watt Balakot Hydropower Project (HPP) in cooperation with Chinese engineers is in full swing. Speaking during his emergency visit to the Balakot HPP site on Monday, he said that the project will be completed with the financial support of Asian Development Bank (ADB), that will earn a receipt of Rs 15 billion per annum for Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and generate employment opportunity for around 1400 people. Secretary Energy Nisar Ahmad Khan also held meeting with the team members of Chinese construction company Gazoba China and the Turkish consultant company Dolsar working on the project in order to review the progress of the work.

Project Director Aziz Raza, Deputy Director Engineer Mohammad Zubair Khan and other concerned officials also attended the meeting. The Secretary Energy and Power was given a detailed briefing about the ongoing work on a colony, including the design of the project, civil works, construction of the tunnel. Speaking on the occasion, Nisar Ahmed Khan urged the contractors, consultants and project director to speed up the work on the site of the dam and to restart the construction at some places wherein worked stopped. Moreover, he also inspected the additional tunnel of the project, which was completed by Chinese engineers’ team in a short time. The Secretary Energy KP expressed the hope that the Balakot hydropower project will prove a milestone in the economic stability and prosperity of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan