Dir power plant to be operational by year's end.

PESHAWAR -- The Koto hydel project in Lower Dir district is likely to become operational by the end of the current year, officials say.

They said construction activities on the 40.8 megawatts project had entered final stages, according to an official statement issuedhere.

The officials said after the successful execution by the end of the current year, the project would produce 40.8 megawatts of low-cost electricity to provide more than Rs2 billion to the province annually and create employment opportunities in the province.

They said the project would help address the power crisis.

Pakhtunkhwa Energy Development Organisation chief executive officer Naeem Khan visited the project site and reviewed the progress of work.

Deputy director Engineer Muqeemuddin told him that several workers of the Chinese teams had gone back due to security reasons, while the Covid-19 emergency caused problems for the procurement of machinery for the project.

'Due to these reasons, work on the project was delayed slightly. However, after the security situation...