Lahorites continue to suffer prolonged power cuts

City faces unscheduled loadshedding despite markets being closed on Sunday

LAHORE: Following the reduction in water release from Mangla and Tarbela dams, citizens of Lahore continue to witness prolonged power cuts in both urban and rural areas of the province.

On Sunday, citizens from various areas of the city complained that despite the closure of most commercial areas and business centres, Lahorites have to face unscheduled power outages, frequent tripping, and low voltage.



Speaking to The Express Tribune, a resident of Journalist Colony, Asim Baig, said that power cuts have been significantly increased for the last few days. The power utility company, the Lahore Electricity Supply Company (LESCO), has also started unscheduled loadshedding, which has multiplied public miseries.

Another citizen from Shahdara area, Usman Bhatti, said residents of his neighbourhood were facing 7-8 hours of power cuts. Due to prolonged power outages, people are also facing water shortage in the area. He indicated that the situation in semi-urban and rural areas is even worse where people have to face power cuts of about 10 hours. Similar complaints were made by several other citizens as humidity and mercury levels are high in the provincial capital these days.

However, Power Division Spokesperson Zafar Yab Khan said on his Twitter account that 1,310MW power shortfall was recorded on Sunday at 1.30pm. He pointed out that the power generation in the country was around 22,000MW while power demand hovered around 23,310MW on Sunday afternoon.

He highlighted that owing to the lowest hydel generation at Mangla, the transmission system at the north is experiencing overloading at various 220 KV and 500 KV grid stations in Punjab, like Rawat, Nokhar, Kala Shah Kaku, and Gatti. He indicated that power distribution companies, like LESCO, Faisalabad Electric Supply Company (FESCO) and Gujranwala Electric Power Company (GEPCO), are also facing some load management to save the system.

A LESCO official disclosed that the company was facing about 600 MW power shortage, while power demand of the company is touching its peak levels due to hot and humid weather in the city. Power managers of the company are cautioned and observing forced power outages besides scheduled load-management due to the recent breakdown that pushed half of the city into the dark.

According to the data released by the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD), water inflows at Tarbela Dam are at 10 years low. It shows that water inflow was at the alarmingly low level of 166,800 cusecs in Tarbela, while its outflow remained at 165,000 cusecs on Sunday.

Data indicated that on August 5, 2017, the water inflow at Tarbela Dam was 324,800 cusecs, which was almost doubled from the current year. It highlighted that the current water level in Tarbela Dam was 1,519.18 feet on Sunday, which was 17.82 feet below from previous year. The dead level of Tarbela Dam is 1,386 feet.



Similarly, water inflow in Mangla Dam is also 20% low when compared to the previous year. Data shows that water inflow at Mangla Dam was 25,948 cusecs on Sunday, which was hovering at 32,285 cusecs on August 5, 2017, while the current water level in Mangla Dam was recorded at 1,152.20 feet, which was above 1,229 feet on the same day in 2017. The dead level of Mangla Dam is 1,050 feet.

Power managers of the country believe that the country's power sector will remain under stress till the weather situation improves. They also highlight that the circular debt of the power sector is also touching the highest level, but the situation will clear after the constitution of the new government of Pakistan Tahreek-e-Insaf (PTI).

Published in The Express Tribune, August 6^th, 2018.