ISLAMABAD: President Asif Ali Zardari on Monday chaired a meeting at Aiwan -e- Sadr, to review current energy situation and the progress made so far on various initiatives undertaken by the government to overcome the power and gas shortage in the country.

The meeting was attended by Ch. Ahmed Mukhtar, Minister for Water & Power, Finance Minister Dr. Abdul Hafeez Sheikh, Advisor to PM on Petroleum, Dr. Asim Hussain, Secretary General M. Salman Faruqui, Finance Secretary Abdul Wajid Rana, Secretary Water & Power, Ms Nargis Sethi and Secretary Petroleum & Natural Resources Dr. Waqar Masood.

Ch. Ahmed Mukhtar, Minister for Water & Power, briefed the meeting about the latest power situation in the country and the various measures taken by the government and said that power generation was steadily improving due to immediate steps taken by the government.

The meeting was informed that a special monitoring and control room had been set up in the Ministry of Water and Power which was overseen directly by the Secretary Water and Power Nargis Sethi.

Twice a day the Secretary Water and Power confers with the chief executives of distribution companies through tele conferencing for interactive briefing on the latest situation pertaining to availability and distribution of power and scheduled or unscheduled loadshedding in different parts of the country.

The chief executive officers have been directed to set up similar control and monitoring rooms in their offices for tele conferencing with field officers posted in different locations under their respective jurisdictions and on the spot decisions are taken to address the problems of supply and distribution of power to avoid bureaucratic delays, the meeting was appraised.

The meeting was also briefed on the visits undertaken by the Secretary Water and Power to various power stations in the country recently.

The President appreciated the latest measures for a hand on approach to the problem adopted by the Water and Power Ministry.

The meeting reviewed progress on Construction of Diamir Bhasha Dam and the efforts being made to garner finances for this important project.

The President said that construction of water reservoirs especially Diamir Bhasha Dam was crucial for the country to enhance its water storage capacity, which he said would help ensure food security and enhance agricultural productivity.

The President said that early completion of Diamer-Bhasha Dam would help ease water and energy problems of the country in view of its huge storage capacity and power generation to the tune of 4500 mega watt and urged for taking all possible steps to ensure timely completion of the multi propose project.

The meeting was also updated on construction of various other hydel power projects including Allai Khwar-Battagram, Jinnah Hydropower-Mianwali, Gomal Zam Dam-South Waziristan Agency, Satpara Dam-Skardu, Duber Khwar-Kohistan, Jabban Hydropower Malakand and Laraib Hydro power projects.

The President during the meeting also stressed for early completion of various projects aimed at exploiting coal, solar and wind energy which he said have great potential in meeting the energy crisis.

Advisor to PM on Petroleum, Dr. Asim Hussain briefed the meeting about the availability of gas and fuel for the power generation, progress on import of LNG and LPG and the Winter Gas Plan.

The President urged for ensuring uninterrupted supply of gas to domestic consumers in winter while framing the Winter Gas Plan.

The President also directed that he should be updated frequently about the energy situation and the implementation status of various measures in this regard.