6,682 villages electrified in Balochistan in last five years

ISLAMABAD, Oct 14 (APP):As many as 6,682 villages in various districts of Balochistan had been electrified during the last five years.

Sharing details, sources told APP here on Thursday that some 1317 villages were electrified during 2016-17, 2,459 in 2017-18, 1,064 in 2018-19, 819 in 2019-20, and 1,023 in 2020-21.

They said that 36 percent of the area of Balochistan has a facility for electricity. It was a fact that most of the areas of Balochistan did not have facilities for electricity, they said.

They said some 6,429 electrification schemes had been initiated during the tenure of the present government, out of which 2,198 schemes had already been completed, whereas, 4231 schemes/works were in progress and were expected to be completed within 1.5 years.

The sources said 16 projects of 132 KV Grid stations had also been completed which would augment the distribution system of Quetta Electric Supply Company. Moreover, the project “Interconnection of Isolated Makran
Network with National Grid System of Pakistan, through proposed 132kV
Basima-Nal — Nag-Panjgoor transmission lines”, would ensure the provision of electricity to the remote areas of Balochistan.

They said the project was scheduled to be completed in March 2023.
The sources said the provincial government with the support of the Power Division was in process of developing the project “Off-grid electrification of 9 Districts of Southern Balochistan” to provide electricity to un-electrified areas of Balochistan province.

This project would ensure the provision of renewable energy to far-flung areas of Balochistan, they said.