The power outages are so acute that industrial growth may be affected.
SIALKOT:
The state’s coffers have dried up paying billions of rupees to those who have managed to install depleted and old rental power projects that have never yielded more than 10 per cent of their declared capacity and in some cases not even a single megawatt. However, despite that, a handful of individuals, some quite close to powerful personalities, have become billionaires — because they set up these power projects.
Most Pakistanis have been made to pay exorbitant amounts in electricity bills. And even for that, they have to endure as much as 20 hours of loadshedding every day. The power outages are so acute that industrial growth may be affected and we have all seen their effect on ordinary people as shown in the power riots that have struck several cities in Punjab the past couple of days. Not only is there a dengue epidemic, people also have to deal with no electricity and no drinking water (because when there is no power, water cannot be pumped to homes).
Who is going to help the powerless people of this land?
Shahzad Khalil
Published in The Express Tribune, October 5th, 2011.
