SKARDU, Feb 3: The residents of Skardu town have been facing severe power crisis for the last several years. The problem increases in winter due to less water in the channels.

In most villages and towns, there are 18 hours’ loadshedding and the practice has been continuing for the last three months. The Power and Works Department, which is responsible for providing electricity to the town, blames Wapda for the crisis.

The PWD authorities say the crisis began after Wapda destroyed the water channel of an old power house for building the phase 1 of a new power house as part of Sadpara dam. When the old hydro-power station was producing one megawatt electricity, there was not too much loadshedding.

The authorities of PWD further say two generators having the capacity of one megawatt each were also functioning in the previous years but this year they have been non-functional due to unavailability of funds for purchasing diesel.

“This situation is also creating shortage of electricity in the town. In addition, the consumers do not cooperate with the department and use heavy machines like geysers, heaters besides preparing food on electric heaters directly connecting them with the service lines. These are the reasons that the department has no choice but to resort to loadshedding,” they added.

Work on phase I and II of the power house has been completed as part of the Sadpara dam project. Though these power houses were to generate 13 megawatts jointly but at present they are producing only two megawatts.

The authorities of Wapda say the water storage capacity is low in the Sadpara dam due to which they are unable to produce the fixed target of electricity.

The residents had earlier been told that after completion of the power houses there would be no loadshedding. However, instead of gaining electricity the city has even been deprived of the available facility.

The people had expressed reservation before work started on the Sadpara dam that the power houses would not meet their target until the Shatung Nulla was diverted into the dam.

Diversion of the Shatung stream flowing on Deosai plateau was included in the Sadpara dam project in the beginning but Wapda without giving any reason abandoned the plan.

Lack of medical facilities

Meanwhile the residents of Baltistan are facing hardships due to lack of medical facilities and shortage of daily-use commodities.

The region is in the grip of severe cold wave following heavy snowfall as mercury has dipped to minus 15 degree Celsius, said Manzoor Hussain Parwana, chairman Gilgit-Baltistan United Movement.

Talking to the local reporters here on Tuesday, he said the people, especially children and patients, were hard hit by severe cold as the region was facing shortage of fuel and essential commodities.

He said the condition of the basic health units in rural areas of the region were in pathetic condition. The BHUs lacked medicines and other health care facilities, he complained.

Heavy snowfall had disrupted the road and air links of the region with the outside world. People living in the far-flung areas have no access to health care facilities, he said.