INTRODUCTION
1. Tirah Valley, the project area is situated in Khyber Agency of FATA. The project area was a ?No-Go Area? till December 2001, when Pakistan Army entered into Tirah Valley and started developmental works like construction of roads, schools, and water supply schemes. The project area is extremely under-developed but is rich in natural resources like forests, water streams etc. The water streams have potential for generating micro-hydel power. The presence of Pakistan Army and its developmental interventions in the area encouraged other non-governmental organizations to start activities for socio-economic development of the area.
2. Taking lead from the Army?s activities in Tirah Valley, the Tribal Reforms and Development Forum mobilized the local community for better resource management practices of the water streams at various locations having potential for hydel power generation. The Pakistan Army?s Engineering Corp, as joint partner agreed to execute the technical dimension of installation of micro-hydel power stations at the technically feasible sites.
PROJECT GOALS OR OBJECTIVES
a) Inhabitants of Tirah valley use kerosene oil and charcoal wood for cooking / lighting / heating purposes thus resulting in environmental degradation due to fossil fuel emissions into the atmosphere. The first objective of the Project is to decrease dependency on kerosene oil / charcoal wood for lightening and avoid climatic change due fossil fuel emissions.
b) To give lead to governmental and non-governmental organizations to optimally utilize the enormous hydel-power potential of Tirah Valley. Construction of more hydel-power stations and delay dams on Bara River and Rajgal Nala will subsequently decrease the dependency of locals on using fossil fuels for cooking and heating purposes.
c) To enable the community members to work for longer hours at nights.
d) To enable the young members of the community to allocate more time on their education at night.
e) To enable the local community to have access to modern thought-currents by exposure to electronic media like TV and satellite antennae etc.
ACTIVITIES TO BE CARRIED OUT UNDER THE PROJECT
4. The Tribal Reforms and Development Forum will mobilize the local community for better resource management. TRDF and Army shall jointly identify the sites basing on the technical feasibility and subsequently involve the community by holding Jirgas (Assembly of Elders). The involvement of the community is aimed at community participation for the sustainability of the project.
5. Basing on technical feasibility and allotment of funds, installation of micro-hydel power stations will be undertaken by Army Engineers.
6. Simultaneously, TRDF will mobilize the local community to create a community organization for the post-project look after, operation and collection of (nominal) power charges from each beneficiary to run and maintain the project successfully.
7. TRDF will select, in consultation with the local community, young and energetic youths to get training on operation and maintenance of these hydel power stations.
PROJECT PARTICIPANTS AND/OR BENEFICIARIES:
8. Tirah valley is located in Khyber Agency, which has remained denuded from essentials of life for almost hundred years. Ever since move of Army in Tirah valley, the century old ?NO-GO AREAS? has been brought to the main stream of remaining Tribal Areas. However, the valley is totally devoid of basic essential facilities. Efforts are being made to bring these areas at par with the remaining developed areas of the province. The Agency is totally devoid of electricity, notwithstanding enormous potential for hydel-power generation. The locals of the five selected sites have voluntarily offered to look after the scheme after its completion, a phenomenon that is rare in the Tribal Areas.

The Tribal Areas of Pakistan make a long strip of land, measuring approximately 41118 square kilometers, stretching from Chitral in the North to Waziristan in the South, runs adjacent to Eastern Afghanistan, thus making a buffer between Afghanistan and Pakistan Administratively, the Federally Administered Tribal Areas (FATA) come under the purview of the Federal Government of Pakistan. It comprises of 7 agencies and 6 Frontier regions. Population density is 180 persons per square kilometer in FATA. Literacy rate in FATA is 6.7% in male and below 1% in female.
Khyber Agency remained neglected in terms of socio-economic development for a long time. Tirah valley is inaccessible part of the Khyber Agency. The opening of Tirah Valley by Pakistan Army provided an opportunity for partners in development to utilize the human and natural resources of Tirah Valley for improving living conditions of the inmates of the area. The Tribal Reforms and Development Forum, a local NGO and Pakistan Army jointly worked, in consultation with the local community, to install micro-hydel generation power stations at five locations in Tirah Valley.
Project Location and Description
The proposed sites are located in Tirah Valley of Khyber Agency, which is one of the most under-developed Agency. The proposed sites for Micro hydel units are located under administrative jurisdiction of Jamrud Sub Division of Khyber Agency. The project covers only five villages at Kemia Gul, Nagrosa, Sokh, Tarai, and Pia Noor areas. These Hydel units will provide enough electricity to approximately 5000 beneficiaries in these five villages.
Project Identification
The Micro-hydel project is a dire need of the community members of villages at Kemia Gul, Nangrosa, Jabbar Mela, Tor Darra, and Sokanai areas. The whole community is committed to work jointly on the project. The community of these five villages have agreed to bear expenses of erecting electric poles, cables and subsequent distribution/ house wiring on self-help basis. Hence a substantial cost will be borne by the community.
Army Engineering Corps will conduct a survey and prepare the project design and cost estimate for the Micro Hydel Units at Tirah Valley. The units installed will produce 10 - 12.5 KVA / unit (basing on the discharge of water). The generated electricity will be transmitted to the consumers through distribution lines erected on steel poles.
ANTICIPATED RESULTS
Socio-Economic Benefits
The micro-hydel project is expected to result in a number of socio-economic benefits to the beneficiary households. It includes:
1. Economic Benefit
Presently the locals of the 5 proposed sites (villages) are dependent upon Kerosene oil for lightening purposes. Few of the rich use cylinders of liquid petroleum gas for lightening and cooking purposes. On the average, a household use three kerosene lamps for lightening purposes during night. A single kerosene lamp, lit for four hours a night, burns ¼ litre of kerosene oil. Thus one household will burn approximately 22.5 litres of kerosene oil in a month. Taking approximately 1500 houses at the proposed project sites, monthly consumption of kerosene would come to 33750 litres costing Rs. 675000 / per month (Rs.8 million per annum). Installation of hydel power units at these five villages will not only replace use of fossil fuel but would also affect enormous saving for the poor people of these backward areas as only Rs. 30000/ per month would be charged from the beneficiaries as power charges.
2. Social Benefit
The Project will revolutionize life-style of a stagnant community by providing them basic necessity of life. The opening of the community to more information through TV, satellite antennae etc. will bring a definite change in the lives of the local community.
3. Preservation of Environment and Use of Natural Resources
a. Optimum utilization of natural resources thereby reducing use of fossil fuels for environmental preservation.
b. Community organization for better and efficient use of available natural resources and environment friendly power generation and supply to the beneficiaries.
QUANTITATIVE BENEFITS
To make the analysis of the project more comprehensive, an attempt has been made to identify and then quantify the possible costs and benefits associated with the micro-hydel project.
Costs
The following costs have been considered:
¨ Construction Cost: Rs. 2,50,000/ (Rs. 50,000/ is likely to be expended on installation and construction of necessary infrastructure for each hydel power unit, this does not include cost of E/M material i.e. generator and governor/ regulator)
¨ Maintenance and repair cost: Rs. 30,000/ per annum per hydel power unit (by the community)
¨ Connection: Approximately Rs. Rs. 2000/ per household
¨ Costs of Bulbs/Tube lights: Rs. 1200/ per household (4 tube lights and 2 bulbs for each household on the average)
¨ Staff costs: Rs. 1500/ per month per hydel unit.
Benefits
The following benefit variables have been considered:
Net saving on Kerosene oil: 33, 750 liters with a cost effect of Rs. 8 million per annum
Assumptions
The Cost Benefit Analysis has been conducted is based on the following assumptions;
Based on the information from the field data:
¨ The households are spending on average Rs. 8 million per year on purchasing on kerosene.
¨ Installation of hydel-power units in the project area would save approximately Rs. 0.44 million of 5000 beneficiaries
Environmental Assessment
Inhabitants of Tirah valley use kerosene oil and charcoal wood for cooking / lighting / heating purposes thus resulting in environmental degradation due to fossil fuel emissions into the atmosphere. The Project would result in decreasing dependency on kerosene oil for lightening and avoid climatic change due to fossil fuel emissions.