ISLAMABAD – Leader of the House in the Senate Shibli Faraz Tuesday said the government will make functional the Lakhra Power Plant which was shut down due to a fire incident in the underground cable tunnel on July 20, 2017.
While Advisor to Prime Minister on Parliamentary Affairs Babar Awan told Senate on Tuesday that the repair of the Lakhra plant was completed in December 2017 and Unit two is ready for operation.
Lakhra power plant has two out of three functional units of 50 megawatts each at the de-rated capacity of 30 megawatts each.
Babar Awan said the persistent closure of the plant was due to negligence and the matter will be sent to National Accountability Bureau (NAB) to fix responsibility.
Awan went on to say that a sum of Rs35 million has already been released earlier this year to provincial irrigation department for constructing Khazana Dam, Zimri, District Musakhel, Balochistan.
Answering the questions of Senator Muhammad Azam Khan Musakhel in Senate, he said that the PC-1 of Rs 300 million has also been prepared and Rs 276 million has to been approved for constructing the dam.
He said a sum of Rs300 million had also been allocated for Khazana Dam, Zimri, District Musakhel in the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) 2017-18. While an amount of Rs. 50.00 million had also been reserved to construct Khazana Dam, Zimri, District Musakhel.
However, the Planning, Development & Reform Division reduced allocation by 30% in pursuance of the Prime Minister’s Office approval dated 25-4-2018, said the advisor.
Senator Musakhel Khan alleged that the site of the dam has been shifted after taking Rs 20 million bribery. Babar Awan asked him to name the official taking bribe so that he could be penalized and punished.
