Making promises: Power outages to be curbed within a month, says PESCO chief

Pesco chief says additional power outages are temporary and will subside by the end of January 2014.

PESHAWAR:

Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) Chief Executive Officer Tariq Sadozai on Monday said the problem of excessive load-shedding will be resolved within a month.

Earlier on Sunday, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) MPAs had decided to gather outside the Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) House to protest against the sharp increase in load-shedding.

On Monday, a delegation of PTI MPAs, including Ishtiaq Urmar, Fazal Elahi and Ziaullah Afridi, again convened outside Wapda House where they were assured by the Pesco chief that additional power outages are temporary and will subside by the end of January 2014.

Briefing the MPAs and journalists, Sadozai blamed the power shortage on the closure of canals and diversion of gas to industrial units. He added he will take into consideration all recommendations presented by the MPAs to redress the electricity crisis.

Sadozai said four to eight hours of load-shedding is being carried out in areas where power theft is minimal and recovery rate is high. On the other hand, residents will be subjected to almost 16 hours of power outages in areas where the distribution system is old and there are excessive illegal power connections.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 31^st, 2013.