Meeting reviews solarisation of agri tube wells in Balochistan
Energy Secretary Muhammad Dawood Bazai has said that, for the development of the agricultural sector, it was necessary to convert the province's agricultural tube wells to solar energy.
He said that would provide significant savings to the government in the energy sector and relief to farmers, adding that the uplift of the agricultural sector was one of the government's top priorities.
He was speaking while chairing a high-level meeting of the Energy Department and the Zameendar Action Committee to make the process of electricity connections for agricultural consumers by the Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO) more effective in Pishin and Quetta districts after the government's decision to convert agricultural tube wells to solar energy.
The Secretary said addressing concerns and complaints of landowners was a top priority, adding that the provincial government would continue to take steps within its constitutional framework to protect the rights of farmers.
The meeting was informed that, on the special instructions of the Chief Secretary, the process of removing transformers from the tube wells of 2,510 agricultural consumers of Pishin district and 189 agricultural consumers of Quetta district should be completed within a week (by January 17) of this month.
In the first phase, the Balochistan government has provided a huge amount of Rs5,398 million for solarization, while after transferring money to agricultural consumers, their transformers, HT poles and other electrical equipment were being removed so that agricultural connections could not be directly connected to the QESCO network.
The meeting was also informed that the work of transformers of agricultural consumers had started on December 20, 2024 and that the work of disconnecting the connections of 2,699 agricultural consumers would be completed on January 17.
Officials said that the process of disconnecting the connections of agricultural tube wells converted to solar panel systems would receive full cooperation and support from the officials of the Zamindar Action Committee because the problems of the farmers and their long-standing demand have been resolved.
The Secretary said that, due to the special interest and efforts of the Chief Minister of Balochistan, Mir Sarfraz Bugti, the provincial government, in collaboration with the federal government, had completed the first phase of the process of solarizing legal and registered agricultural tube wells.
In that regard, the officials of the Energy Department, QESCO, representatives of the relevant Zamindar associations and law enforcement agencies would ensure its immediate implementation.