98% power restored in quake hit areas
Wapda suffers Rs320m losses

BATAGRAM—Chairman Wapda, Tariq Hameed said on Wednesday that October eight devastating earthquake badly damaged Wapda installations especially the transmission lines and the authority need Rs.320 million to put the electricity system back on the track in the affected districts. Talking to media men here in the premises of Battal Grid Stations at Chattar Plain, Chairman Wapda said electricity supply in 98 percent areas affected by the quake have been restored while work is in full progress to rectify the damaged electricity installations at the earliest. Chairman Wapda, in his whirlwind tour of the quake hit districts Mansehra, Batagram and Shangla, visited grid stations at Balakot, Thakot, Battal, Allai and Besham and apprised himself of the latest situation vis a vis power supply.
He informed that three Wapda officials lost their lives in the earthquake and one injured and assured to extend all possible help to the heirs of the deceased workers from the Wapda Welfare Fund. The Wapda would build houses for the deceased employees, he assured. According to the initial estimates worked out by the Wapda authorities, he said, “ we will be needing to spend Rs.320 million to offset the impact of the damages caused to the electricity system by the dreadful earthquake”. However, he made it clear that the Wapda would try to meet the damages from its own sources, he explained when asked.
He said that top priority is to make functional the closed grid stations in the affected districts and praised the performance of the PESCO authorities who, in the extremely unfriendly weather, restart the grid stations in Bagh, Rawlakot in AJK and in the Frontier Province within 24 hours after the earthquake. Chairman Wapda also instructed the staff of the PESCO to provide temporary electricity connections on priority basis to the medical relief camps set up in the Balakot and Batagram areas. He said the Wapda would provide cables for the same on urgent basis.
To a question, he said that Wapda has decided to give temporary power connections to those who survived the earthquake and added that mostly the transmission lines of the PESCO badly damaged along with other equipment. He said that Wapda has always played praiseworthy role at the time of emergency and added that in the current national calamity, the staff of Wapda performed extremely well in maintaining constant flow of electricity despite such a huge catastrophy.—APP