The incumbent government has failed to take essential measures to check the worsening situation
KARACHI: Our power shortfall and power tariffs are both increasing. Frequent load-shedding is affecting everyone, including the industrial sector. Very soon, the cost of electricity will be beyond the reach of most Pakistanis. Unfortunately, the incumbent government has failed to take essential measures to check the worsening situation. The government’s ministerial team has not been able to exploit the full potential of the power supply available from different sources and has not been able to cut down line losses and has not been able to check rampant power theft. Hundreds of billions of dues remain unrecovered.
The government should also pay attention to the utilisation of the comparatively short-term run-of-the-river hydro projects on the Azad Jammu and Kashmir and the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa rivers. Such projects could generate up to 4,000MW of electricity in a comparatively short time. Another area is that of harnessing solar energy. The government should invest in local manufacturing of photovoltaic cells and panels, sell them at subsidised rates and assist people in installation of solar systems in their houses. This would take considerable load off Wapda. However, the government needs a visionary and dynamic ministerial team to achieve all this.
M Ayaz Ayub
Published in The Express Tribune, November 18th, 2014.
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