Power outages: K-P govt gears for tussle with Wapda

Almost 6,600 MW of hydel power was generated in K-P, whereas Pepco was supplying only 1,500 MW to K-P and Fata.

PESHAWAR:

The Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) government is about to file a writ petition against Wapda for prolonged power outages, official sources told The Express Tribune on Saturday.

The announcement was made by K-P Senior Minister Bashir Ahmed Bilour during a public gathering at Nishtar Hall, during an event to commemorate provincial autonomy. Bilour said that the government would soon file a petition in Peshawar High Court (PHC) for this purpose.

“The court has already banned gas load shedding in K-P and now we will request the court to ban power cuts as well,” he said, adding that the presence of hydel power stations was enough to fulfil the demand.

He said almost 6,600 Megawatts (MW) of hydel power was generated in K-P, whereas Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) was supplying only 1,500 MW to K-P and Fata. “Pepco should supply 2,300 MW according to its distribution policy. However, it was not adhering to its policies,” he explained.

Residents of Lower Dir, Upper Dir, Shangla, Swat, and Kohistan are confronted with various problems due to long power outages. A local government official, asking not to be named, told The Express Tribune that due to security reasons, they were not allowed to launch protests either.

Local residents also complained about extensive power cuts making their lives miserable. “We suffered through the menace of terrorism and floods which devastated our lives, and now we are faced with extreme power cuts which have totally paralysed our routines,” they claimed.

Earlier, the PHC took suo motu action against Wapda and ordered the authorities to reduce load shedding in the province. The court also ordered the dissolution of Pepco by June 30. The court also ordered the authorities to either supply electricity to Fata through a separate line, or increase the power supply in K-P from 2,300 MW or 2,800 MW.



Published in The Express Tribune, July 3^rd, 2011.