Biting power outages test people’s patience

ISLAMABAD:

As power outages continue to plunge people into darkness amid scorching heat, the patience of people is wearing thin in the face of unannounced and prolonged power cuts that have started to take a toll on their livelihoods as well.

With many reeling under shocks from loadshedding, the energy deficit is hitting where it hurts most: small businesses and factories.

Factory owners and small businessmen lamented that they have suffered huge losses as a result of power outages.

It is learnt that power load-shedding continues in different parts of Karachi as the demand for electricity has increased from 3,350 megawatts to 3,400 megawatts, with citizens expressing grave concerns over 7-10 hours of power outages in the old city area.

Shah Faisal Colony, Gulistan-e-Jauhar and Gulshan-e-Iqbal are among the worse-hit areas, whereas 8-12 hours of loadshedding is being conducted in the FB area, Gulshan-e-Maymar, Landhi and Korangi.

Prolonged power outages have also led to water shortages at homes.

Similarly, in Gujranwala, people were experiencing outages for 8-10 hours, while the loadshedding in rural areas spans around 16 hours.

PM rushes to keep nation's lights on

A day earlier, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif issued stern warnings to the officials of the energy ministry to rein in the crisis without any delay, telling them that failure to do so would earn them dismissal from their service.

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In an emergency meeting to discuss the burgeoning crisis, the prime minister reprimanded the officials while rejecting their explanations for the biting load-shedding and directed the energy minister and finance ministry to plug the energy shortfall and furnish a viable plan for the same within 24 hours.

The huddle reviewed the power load-shedding situation in the country and discussed measures to reduce the electricity shortfall that has exceeded 7,000 megawatts.

According to insiders, PM lashed out at the officials concerned while directing them to reduce load-shedding duration to two hours maximum under any circumstances.

"Load-shedding for more than two hours is not acceptable. Do whatever,” he issued directives.
“Out of the question. Not acceptable,” the irate premier asserted. “I don’t want any explanation. People want to get rid of load-shedding and I will not compromise on public issues,” the premier was quoted as saying in response to the explanations given by the officials.

Ever since the incumbent government came to power, it has struggled to resolve the nagging problem of power outages. While Prime Minister Shehbaz had vowed to end the problem as soon as possible, the issue continues to linger on, with no relief in sight.

Furthermore, the country has been facing an extreme heatwave since last month and temperature up to 50 degrees Celsius has been recorded in some parts of Pakistan. The World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has attributed this worsening problem to climate change. It is worth mentioning here that Pakistan is among the countries most vulnerable to the effects of climate change.

Shortfall surges

Meanwhile, the electricity shortfall has reached 6,865 megawatts triggering power cuts of around 14 hours a day in many areas of the country. In Islamabad, the loadshedding was recorded at 8 hours while in Lahore the power cuts were 6-7 hours long.

The power distribution companies informed that the duration of power cuts was longer in high losses areas.

(With Inputs from DNA)