Energy Resources Power Without Light,
Dr Shabir Choudhry
A chapter from my book, The Price of Occupation,
Power to Pakistan and Darkness for Us.
There are 25 sectors of the Azad Kashmir economy; here, I am only discussing one sector.
Azad Kashmir is blessed with abundant
water resources. The rivers of Neelum, Jhelum, and Poonch have the capacity to
generate thousands of megawatts of electricity. Yet, despite this immense
wealth, the people of Azad Kashmir continue to suffer from load-shedding, high
tariffs, and underdevelopment.
How
does Pakistan exploit POK?
Power Project Capacity (MW) Annual Generation (GWh)
Neelum–Jhelum Hydropower Plant: 969 MW Annual 4,630 GWH
Mangla Dam: 1,150 MW Annual 5,000 GWH
Kohala Hydropower Project: 1,124 MW. Annual 4,800 GWH
Gulpur Hydropower Plant: 102 MW Annual 465
GWH
Patrind Hydropower Plant: 150 MW
Annual 632.5 GWH
Azad Pattan Hydropower Project: 700
MW Annual 3,064 GWH
New Bong Escape Hydropower Plant:
84 MW Annual 550 GWH
23 small hydro projects
produce: 79.12 MW
Annual 280 GWH
Total:4358.12 MW Total:19,421.5 GWH
GWh stands for Gigawatt-hour.
• 1 Watt (W) = a very small
unit of power (like a tiny bulb).
• 1 Kilowatt (kW) = 1,000
Watts (e.g., a small heater).
• 1 Megawatt (MW) = 1,000 kW
(e.g., a medium-sized power plant turbine).
• 1 Gigawatt (GW) = 1,000 MW
(e.g., a very large power plant or several dams combined).
The “hour (h)” means it
measures energy over time (not just instant power). So:
·
1 GWh = using 1 GW (Gigawatt) of power for 1 hour.
· It equals 1 million kilowatt-hours
(kWh).
· A 100-watt light bulb running for 10
hours = 1 kWh.
· A small town might use a few GWh per
year.
In the case of AJK: When we say
Neelum–Jhelum plant produces 4,630 GWh/year, it means it generates 4.63 billion
units of electricity every year (since 1 kWh = 1 “unit” on your electricity
bill).
Let me put it in perspective for you:
·
AJK consumption: 350 MW
·
AJK production: 4358.12 MW
·
Electricity stolen by Pakistan:4008.12 MW
1 megawatt=1000
Kilowatt. In total, how many units does Pakistan steal every year, and how much
is it in Pakistani rupees?
6.1 How much electricity
does Pakistan steal every year from Azad Kashmir?
Pakistan steals about 35.1 billion
units (kWh) of electricity every year from Azad Kashmir.
At an average
price of Rs. 30 per unit in Pakistan, this amounts to roughly Rs. 1.05 trillion
annually. In simple language, in the sector of hydroelectric, Pakistan steals
Rs 1.05 trillion annually from Azad Kashmir.
1 trillion in Urdu is 1 Kharbb per
annum. The total budget of Azad Kashmir for the fiscal year 2024-2025 was RS
264 billion. 2
So, anyone can tell who feeds whom.
This is just one sector or one source of the Azad Kashmiri income if we were
independent and we had our own State Bank.
All the electricity generated in Azad
Kashmir is automatically taken into Pakistan’s national grid because all the
hydropower projects are owned and controlled by WAPDA (Water and Power
Development Authority of Pakistan).
Because we are ‘Azad’, independent,
Azad Kashmir itself has no independent transmission authority; the grid is
integrated with Pakistan’s NTDC (National Transmission & Despatch Company).
A bitter reality is that the
electricity we generate inside Azad Kashmir never comes under the Azad Kashmir
government’s control. Sadly, the electricity we produce has to be bought back
for local consumption. Although we produce 4358.12 MW and our consumption is
350 MW, we still suffer from long power cuts and shortages because distribution
is completely under Islamabad’s control.
In other words, the so-called Azad
Kashmir is an electric producer without ownership, supplying more electricity
than it consumes, yet having no say in how it is used.
I hope you understand and agree with
me that it is the most painful truth. Sadly, if we speak about this truth, we
suffer, and are castigated as traitors, agents of foreign powers, enemies of
Pakistan and enemies of Islam.
As pointed out above, Azad Kashmir is
blessed with natural resources, including an immense hydropower potential (over
8,000 MW in AJK alone); yet the people of Azad Kashmir are not permitted to
even produce 1 MW of electricity independently.
Every project — whether big dams like
Mangla and Neelum–Jhelum or even small-scale hydropower schemes — must get
approval from WAPDA (Water and Power Development Authority of Pakistan) and
Islamabad.
This means control of our natural
resources is with our powerful neighbour, Pakistan. The region, known as Azad
Kashmir, has no control over its natural resources. Those who serve the
interests of Pakistan are imposed upon us as our ‘elected leaders’, and
exploitation continues unchecked.
A simple message:
Azad Kashmir produces
electricity, but it does not own it. The people face shortages while their
rivers irrigate the Pakistani land, and electricity produced here helps to fuel
Pakistan’s industries and cities.
