Removing glacier from power house water channel on self help basis.
By: Gul Hamaad Farooqi
CHITRAL: Residents of Mojgoal and Reshun kicked snow removing campaign on volunteer basis from water channel of Reshun power hydro power house. A big avalanche hit water channel and penstock of Reshun power house on 17th March as a result water supply suspended to power house and its generation badly affected.
Due to shortage of water Reshun power house of 4.2 megawatt cannot provide requirement electricity and consumers of the area face 18 hours load shedding. Some 15000 consumers badly suffering from longest load shedding. But Pahtonkhwa Hydro Developmental Organization have not fund for snow removing from power house,s water channel.
Residents of the area kicked this campaign on self help basis to remove snow from the water channel. For this purpose two person who enters inside the tunnel by tide their back with rope while 6 persons hold this rope to save them from felling down. The other person holding a water pipe who showering water on ice to melt snow the help of flash water and bawl and digging a well. They go inside the ice in a tunnel upto 80 feet deep and reach to the water channel to through the water. Temperature inside this well is minus 10 and they face sever coldness.
They dig several wells in water channel to continue its flow. Salahuddin and other volunteers of Mojgoal area told this scribe that they work this task on their life risk. They thanked Assistant Commissioner Mastuj Minhasuddin who visiting the site frequently to encourage them. Line superintendent of Reshun power house Akhtar Nawaz Khan said that we have earmarked only 40000 for this purpose. He said that they collect some 3.5 million revenue monthly from their consumers because they sell @ Rs: 3 per unit to their consumer as well as to Wapda but Pesco sell it at high rate of 5-10 rupees per unit. As a result provincial government facing financial loss.
Experts contractors and local people said that this is very risky work because they digging well in 1 kilometer long and 200 feet high avalanche and if this work might doing by C&W they will estimate 4 million for this purpose.
Resident of the area highly hailed efforts of these people who removing some on their life risk from water channel of Reshun power house and they demanded from provincial government to earmark sufficient fund for removing of snow from its channel and to appoint local people for this purpose.
G.H. Farooqi C/O Manager bank Islami Main branch Chitral Pakistan phone No (0092) 0943-320737, 0943-316052, 0943-414418 ,03205989602, 03025989602, 03337069572, 03159698446, 03469002167
email: gulhamad@gmail.com,ghfarooqi@rediffmail.com, gulhamaad786@yahoo.co.uk,journalist786@outlook.com
