Sun, power outages combine to roast Lahore

Citizens frustrated as they foresee another year of electricity shortage

LAHORE: The scorching heat of Lahore has given rise to flaring tempers as residents of several neighbourhoods took to the streets on Tuesday against prolonged power outages.

With the city roasting at 45 degrees Celsius, power outages have returned with a vengeance to the provincial metropolis.

Frequent tripping and unannounced power outages are being reported in almost all parts of Punjab with a number of citizens complaining about facing prolonged blackouts since Saturday evening.



Despite tall claims, the government has failed to address the energy crisis, Lahori’ites complain.

A citizen Osama Javed pointed out the duration of power blackouts had multiplied over the last two weeks with the rise in temperature. Power consumers are facing up to 16 hours of load-shedding in urban areas and hardly get any electricity for a couple of hours in rural neighbourhoods.

Muhammad Aslam from Ghari Shahu said power had frequently been out since Saturday evening in most neighbourhoods along Allama Iqbal Road. “Backup systems, like generators and UPS systems, exhaust within a couple of hours and were have to spend the night in the hot and humid environment,” he lamented.



Despite several attempts, no official of the power distribution company paid any attention to consumer complaints.

Another citizen Amna Khan said she was expecting some relief in power outages this summer because of the government claims that it would eliminate load-shedding from the country.

“The increasing power outages and frequent tripping proves the rulers made hollow promises,” she said. “There seems to be no end to load-shedding this year too.”

According to Quaid-e-Azam Industrial Estate President Zaheer Bhutta, the Lahore Electricity Supply Company (LESCO) has started four hours of unscheduled load-shedding in almost all industrial areas that is hurting production as well.

He claimed the outages had forced the industrialists to limit their operations to two shifts.

Zaheer said the rulers were following in the footsteps of the previous PPP-led government and compelling the business community to take to the streets.

He warned the government and power distribution companies to mend their ways or the traders, along with their labour, would start protests.

Opposition parties also slammed the rulers for their hollow claims.



PTI leader Jamshed Iqbal Cheema along with a large number of party workers protested on Canal Road in the Fateh Garh area. He asked the Punjab chief minister to hold a sit-in against his own government as he did against the PPP in 2008 for failing to end the power crisis.

A senior LESCO official said the company was facing a serious shortfall as the demand for power had surged to 4,200MW. He said it was unprecedented for the company to cater to such a huge demand during the summer.

“The company is getting 60 per cent of its quota from the national grid,” he maintained. After the surge in demand, there was a chance of a major breakdown or system failure so the grid stations were being switched on and off from Islamabad.

Power generation and demand statistics show the country is facing a energy shortfall of over 6,000MW. While the demand is touching around 19,000MW, the generation is hovering at around 12,000MW.

Published in The Express Tribune, April 19^th, 2017.