Senate body on Power meets.

Islamabad -- A meeting of the Senate Standing Committee on Power was held under the chairmanship of Chairman Committee Senator Saifullah Abro here at Parliament Lodges today.

The question raised by Senator Syed Muhammad Sabir Shah in the Senate session regarding heavy transmission lines passing through Ghazi Tehsil of Haripur District was discussed in detail. The Additional Secretary, Ministry of Energy (Power Division) informed the committee that as per the existing policy, the owners of the land through which the transmission lines pass are paid a reasonable lump sum amount. He added that any construction near the transmission lines is prohibited. Senator Syed Sabir Shah said that due to heavy transmission lines people's land becomes permanently useless on which they can neither do any construction nor the land can be used for agriculture. Authorities should buy the land from the people or pay a reasonable royalty to the people. Senator Saifullah Sarwar Khan Niazi emphasized that the royalty should be paid in proportion to the revenue generated from electricity so that the people could have a source of regular income.

The Additional Secretary Power Division said that the existing law needs to be amended to introduce a new policy. The chairman of the committee directed the concerned authorities to review the policy in this regard and submit suggestions in the next committee meeting. Regarding the recent load shedding in the country, the chairman of the committee questioned the Secretary Power Division that we are being told that the country has surplus electricity producing capacity, then what are the reasons for the current load shedding? Officials informed that Pakistan's power generation capacity is about 38,000 MW But due to non-supply of fuel and RLNG, many power generation plants have been shut down. The country's current power generation is about 18,500 MW, officials said. The Additional Secretary Power further said that the demand for electricity has increased by 38% in April this year as compared to the previous year.

The chairman of the committee said that while procuring RLNG, care should be taken to deal with suppliers who do not default when there is price hike. The chairman of the committee said that the amount of performance guarantee should be such that the supplier could not default. The Additional Secretary Power Division gave a detailed briefing to the committee on the project for rehabilitation of licensed public sector...