PESHAWAR: Peshawar High Court has disposed of a petition against delay in completion of a hydropower project in Lower Dir after the government and other respondents informed the bench that it had been completed and would be made operational soon.

A bench consisting of Justice Syed Mohammad Attique Shah and Justice Inamullah Khan observed that the instant petition served its purpose and was thus no more required to be kept pending.

The petition was filed in 2023 by a resident of Lower Dir, Rahim Shah Akhunkhail, who had sought orders for the respondents to ensure early completion of work on Koto hydropower project.

The respondents in the petition were provincial energy and power secretary, chief executive of Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation (Pedo), Koto project director, and Sichuan-Sarwar-Silian-Chungqing Luyang, a joint venture company contracted to execute the scheme.

Bench informed the scheme will be made operational soon

The petitioner’s counsel, Malik Mohammad Ajmal Khan, said that site for Koto hydropower project was identified by the government in 1992 with the help of German Technical Cooperation (GTZ).

He said that the executive committee of National Economic Council approved the project in Aug 2014, while work on it was inaugurated on July 5, 2015. The lawyer said that the Panjkora River project meant to generate 40.8 megawatts of energy was to be completed within four years, by Feb 2019 to be exact, but it had entered a slow lane.

He said that a national newspaper reported on May 24, 2021, that 90 per cent of the project work had been completed and the rest would be completed by Dec 2021, but another news report put the completion time at Dec 2022.

Mr Khan said that work was under way even after the extension of the deadline. He contended that the main objective of the project was to ‘develop power potential in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa on the sustainable basis and provide environment-friendly energy’ to people.

The counsel said that it was one of the key Pedo projects and was meant for producing cheaper, renewable and environment-friendly electricity to meet current and future needs of the country, especially rural and remote areas of the province.

He contended that according to experts, the project would be highly beneficial due to low cost of production and thus saving foreign exchange spent on the import of thermal fuels.

Mr Khan said that the successful execution of Koto hydropower project would help to prevent release of poisonous gases into the air due to thermal power plants. He referred to Article 9 of the Constitution and contended that the environment and its protection were integral to people’s right to life and dignity.

He said that it was the responsibility of state to provide a healthier and cleaner environment to people. He contended that besides power generation, the project would also play an important role in economic development of the country in general and that of Dir Lower district in particular.

The assistant advocate general, Taskeenud Din Khattak, appeared for the provincial government whereas Advocate Hazrat Bilal represented other respondents.

They informed the bench that work on the project was completed and it was likely to start functioning in near future.

Published in Dawn, February 11th, 2025