Power outages are a long-standing issue in Pakistan
ISLAMABAD: Power outages are a long-standing issue in Pakistan, which worsens with every passing day due to inconsistent policies of governments.
General Musharraf tried to settle the issue by constructing the controversial Kalabagh dam, which was opposed by Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa due to certain apprehensions within the provinces.
Later he changed his mind and decided to construct some small dams at various places across the country with the consensus of the stakeholders. He laid the foundation stones for them but couldn’t complete them, as he had to doff his uniform and hand over the reins of power to the government of PPP.
The PPP’s government tried to tackle power cuts through Independent Power Producers. But they failed and could not help mitigate the problem.
Enter the Sharif brothers. They made many tall claims during their political campaigning for the general election in 2013 that they would resolve the electricity problem on a permanent basis within a short span of time after coming into power. But almost four years have passed and the issue still lingers.
Now they are giving excuses for not fulfilling their promises within the stipulated time period. But elections are due next year. And if the Sharifs want to improve their decreasing graph of popularity among the public, they have to end power cuts during their tenure.
Rehan Khan
Published in The Express Tribune, May 18th, 2017.
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