Islamabad: The government is set to announce a comprehensive National Solar Policy on August 1 to provide cheap and environmental-friendly electricity to the general public.

The decision was taken by Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif as he chaired a high-level meeting of the Energy Task Force aimed at addressing the problems of energy shortage in the country.

The implementation of the National Solar Policy will be subject to approval by the Council of Common Interests.

The meeting was attended by Federal Minister for Energy Engineer Khurram Dastagir, Finance Minister Miftah Ismail, Planning Minister Ahsan Iqbal, Information Minister Marriyum Aurangzeb, Petroleum Minister Mussadik Malik, and the officials concerned. The chief secretaries of four provinces joined the meeting through a video link.

PM Sharif directed the task force to get feedback from the provinces on the draft solar policy and stressed ensuring unanimity of views at the provincial level on the projects of alternative energy generation.

Also, it was decided to shift the Prime Minister’s Office and the PM House to solar energy within one month.

The prime minister said the government was committed to making the country self-reliant in energy generation.

He mentioned that solar power was a clean and green way of electricity generation and said the solar projects would mitigate the issues such as distribution losses, power theft, and circular debt.

PM Sharif said affordable solar power would reduce the burden of inflation on the common man.

The meeting was informed that a proposal for converting the fuel-based powerhouses and the 2,000 feeders of 11 KV to solar generation was on the cards.

Switching the government buildings to solar power generation was also discussed in detail.

It was told that in the next 10 years, solar plants with 1,000 megawatts generation would be installed at the government buildings on a BOOT (Build-Own-Operate-Transfer) basis.

The meeting also discussed the proposals for B2B (business-to-business) and mini solar grids.

It was highlighted that a plan to convert 30,000 tube wells in Balochistan to solar power was under consideration with a cost of Rs 300 billion.

The meeting also discussed the proposal to provide solar plants to individuals with a facility of net-metering.

Lahore: Pakistan Test squad’s support personnel Malang Ali tested positive for Covid-19, Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) informed on Thursday.

The squad arrived in Colombo on Wednesday evening at 6:00pm Pakistan time.

The team official confirmed that Malang tested positive for Covid-19 in the on-arrival Rapid Antigen test.

The masseur will now undergo five-day isolation and will be allowed to come out of isolation upon returning a negative RAT test on the fifth day, he added.

Pakistan will play a three-day warm-up match between 11-13 July. The first Test will be played at Galle from 16 July, while the second Test will be staged at Colombo from 24 July.

Islamabad: Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif on Thursday inaugurated the first four-line interconnected Islamabad metro bus service, terming the step a big relief for commuters of the twin cities dealing with high fuel prices.

Addressing at the launch of Green and Blue lines of the mass transit metro bus service, he termed the service a gift for the residents of the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi, which will accommodate common man, students and workers plying on the routes.

With the service, Bhara Kahu, GT Road, Koral and Rawalpindi have been connected through Green, Orange, Blue and Red Lines respectively.

The bus service will run from Baharakahu to PIMS (Green Line) & Koral to PIMS (Blue Line) where all the Green Blue service will merge with Red Line (Rawalpindi Islamabad Metro). From Faiz Ahmad Faiz bus stop, the passengers can take Orange line to Airport.

The prime minister mentioned that at the time when the petrol prices skyrocketed, the launch of four metro bus lines would be a sigh of relief for commuters.

He said a decent and on-time transportation service on regular basis was a service to common man and lauded the efforts of Interior Minister and the Chairman CDA for service delivery.

He announced to offer free transportation service to commuters for one month.

PM Sharif regretted that a delay in launch of service for four year during the previous tenure incurred heavy losses to national exchequer.

He directed completion of allied services to metro bus project on urgent basis to facilitate the common man.

PM Sharif said the shuttle service from Rawat to Koral was under consideration and funds would be provided for an early launch.

He said every penny of national exchequer would be spent judiciously for the uplift of citizens and stressed that every public project be monitored to avoid lapses in delivery.

The prime minister said efforts were afoot to control inflation in the country through short-term relief measures.

He said the government would promote solar power generation projects to mitigate the challenges of shortage of electricity.

He lauded the step of the Punjab government to provide free electricity to consumers using 100 units and hoped that the other provinces would also emulate the facility.

The prime minister appreciated the efforts of Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah for the steps taken regarding the welfare of Islamabad police and their families.

The prime minister also laid the foundation stone of a Command and Control centre for metro buses at Bhara Kahu, which will be completed in six months.

Interior Minister Rana Sanaullah said the service would accommodate the residents of Islamabad and adjoining areas as an affordable and decent transportation.

He mentioned that Shehbaz Sharif throughout his political career took steps to facilitate the common man.

Chairman CDA Amir Ahmed Ali said 30 buses from China had been added to the fleet to facilitate the services.

He said from Koral to PIMS, 13 bus stations had been set up with headway of six minutes. Due to road construction up to Rawat, a bus shuttle from PWD will run.

He said there are 8 stations complete on Green Line, whereas the rest of six stations would be completed by August 14.

A bus depot had been established at Bhara Kahu to save the dead mileage.

The CDA Chairman said a smart card would also be launched to be used on all bus services, including Rawalpindi’s Red Line.

The Command and Control Centre will be completed in six months. 

He said Islamabad was the first city in the country with four bus lines operating and vowed to expand in the capital’s sector areas at a stretch of 8-9 kilometres.