Power outages continue to plague city

LAHORE: Unscheduled load-shedding especially during Sehri and Iftar hours continued unabated as the Ministry of Water and Power (MOWP) seem to have turned a deaf ear to the hue and cry of the masses. Even the notice taken by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif against power breakdowns during Ramazan seems to have little effect.

Chairing a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Energy on Tuesday, PM Nawaz directed the MOWP to ensure there was no unscheduled load-shedding anywhere in the country during the holy month of Ramazan. He also ordered uninterrupted power supply all over the country during Sehri and Iftar hours.

Energy managers in the MOWP failed to control unscheduled load-shedding and frequent power tripping. A number of citizens from various parts of the country complained of prolonged power outages.



A citizen from a rural area near Multan, Bashir Ahmad, said people in their area hardly get electricity for four to six hours a day. The situation is similar in urban areas where people were facing 10 to 12 hours of load-shedding.

Syed Israr, a Lahore local, pointed out that LESCO announced six hours load-shedding in urban areas during Ramazan, but most areas faced over 10 hours of outages. He complained that for the last couple of days, several localities were facing power outages during Sehri and Iftar hours.

A resident of the Lahore Press Club Housing Society, Zahid Baig, complained that there was no electricity in his colony on Tuesday night. “Power supply was suspended to the whole area at midnight and was restored just half an hour before Sehri. It is strange that the power situation is worsening in urban areas, despite the fact that the weather has improved in the city,” he said.

Though energy managers have failed to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply citizen during Ramazan, Lahorites have found a temporary solution to beat the heat.



Various families and youths have taken over the air-conditioned Ramazan bazaars. The district administration had started establishing air-conditioned makeshift markets in the city for the holy month. This year, there are around 12 of them in the city and huge crowds gather in these markets during load-shedding hours.

A middle-aged woman, who was cursing rulers for sending her inflated power bills despite prolonged load-shedding, appreciated the air-conditioning and dessert cooler arrangements. “There is no use of Ramazan bazaars except for the air-conditioned environment. Vendors are fleecing citizens in connivance with the government by selling substandard food products,” she said.

Contrary to public complaints, official data of the MOWP shows there was no unscheduled load-shedding anywhere in the country. Data shows 18,247MW power demand was recorded on the system, while generation was hovering at 14,815MW, of which 4,845MW was produced through hydel, 2,912MW through GENCOs and 7,058MW through IPPs.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 1^st, 2017.