K-P wants water projects under CPEC

CM Mahmood Khan directs his govt to expedite work on power and solarisation projects

PESHAWAR: Even as it works on developing two routes for the multi-billion dollar China-Pakistan Economic Corridor along with special economic zones and tourist spots along them, the provincial government on Monday hinted at including water supply projects in the corridor as well.

This was directed by the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mehmood Khan on Monday while presiding over a meeting on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor (CPEC) projects in the province at the CM Secretariat in Peshawar.

During the meeting, Mahmood was briefed about the inclusion in CPEC of the 260 megawatts (MW) Jamshil Torren More and the 350 MW Torren More Kare projects in Chitral. Their inclusion has been agreed on in principal during the last meeting of the CPEC Joint Cooperation Committee (JCC).

The projects will be included in the corridor after it is evaluated by a panel of experts and representatives from both sides.

Another project which has been provisionally included in CPEC is the second phase of the Swat Motorway project. The project has already been approved by the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP). Furthermore, the technical survey of Peshawar-Dera Ismail Khan Motorway project is also being carried out.

Mahmood was further briefed that a project for solarising some 800 existing water supply schemes has been included under CPEC’s Socio-Economic grant. For this purpose, a revised PC-I worth Rs695.406 million, non-ADP, had been approved.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2019.