Power generation: Philanthropist succeeds in ridding his village of outages

Installs 320 kW hydropower station in Guli Bagh village, provides electricity free-of-charge.

SWAT:

It took a philanthropist a month to accomplish what the government could not in over six decades — to supply uninterrupted and free-of-charge electricity at a remote village of Swat.

Mohammad Sher Khan, resident of Guli Bagh village said that after getting “sick and tired of the unending loadshedding” in his village, he decided to take the matter in his own hands. Khan installed a 320 kilowatt (kW) micro hydropower station on a river at a cost of Rs200,000.

However, in a vein of hospitality, he did not keep the spoils of his investment to himself. He started supplying electricity free-of-charge to anyone who needed it at homes, mosques and shops etc. He ensured that the people had uninterrupted power supply especially when they needed it the most, such as during Ramazan and on Eid days.

“Had it not been for Khan’s power station, we would not have been able to sew many suits for people before Eid,” said Hayat Mohammad, a local tailor. “The loadshedding in our village is terrible and we could barely manage to sew two pairs of shalwar kameez in a day,” Mohammad said. “But with electricity from Khan’s power station, we ended up sewing 10 pairs a day and made a total of 500 suits before Eid. People wore new clothes for Eid and we earned money to feed our families - everyone was happy,” he added.

The initiative has earned Khan good name not just in his village but in the whole of Swat. People from neighbouring villages, who too have been vexed by constant power outages, want a similar solution to the energy crisis.

Anwar Khan, an energy consultant said the valley has great potential for hydropower and if such micro hydropower stations are installed in every village where there is sufficient flow of water, Swat’s electricity crisis could be overcome.

A local said these micro hydropower stations, which cost a trifling amount of around Rs200,000, would not only help resolve the power crisis in Swat but also serve as profitable ventures. If every villager is charged as little as Rs300 per month to install and maintain such micro hydropower stations in their areas, such projects could be very profitable, he said. “With low-cost and uninterrupted electricity, local businesses will also thrive,” he added.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 3^rd, 2012.