“Due to low voltage supply, we cannot operate tubewells,” said a tubewell operator in the Satellite Town area.
All signs suggest it is going to get only worse with time. The residents of Rawalpindi and Islamabad continue to face up to 12-hours of power cut every 24 hours.
Local Pakistan Muslim League-N leaders who would lead protests demonstrations against power outages during the Pakistan People’s Party term are silent on the issue and did not reply to the repeated calls and text messages requesting comments.
An IESCO official confirmed that residents are subjected to 12-hours of daily power cuts, while in rural areas the duration sometimes exceeds 16 hours.
Traders complained that under the circumstances, they cannot continue their business, adding that low voltage further adds to their problems.
“Due to low voltage supply, we cannot operate tubewells,” said a tubewell operator in the Satellite Town area.
Raja Bazaar trade union member Qadir Mir when asked why they were silent over the issue, said it seems all of the traders have joined the PML-N.
“Power suspension during the day is taking a toll on our businesses, while in the night it spoils our rest,” he said.
Some traders criticised the local PML-N leadership for their silence on the issue. “They had promised to control it. Now where is the chief minister who claimed he would change his name if he failed to address the electricity issue,” asked Muhammad Israr, a shopkeeper in Saddar.
“Punishing those who are paying their bills along with those who are not paying is unacceptable,” said Muhammad Arsalan, a shopkeeper in Islamabad’s Aabpara market.
“The government must take serious steps to control it,” said Zahid Bashir, a resident of F-7/4. He said he spends much of his day switching generators on and off.
IESCO Operations Director and Chief Engineer Fiaz Hussain, when contacted, said that they were managing the given quota. “The National Power Control Center provides us with a 10 per cent quota of total production through which we manage to provide 12-hour power supply.
He said they have no information about the shortfall. Power theft, as claimed by Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) officials, is less than 2 per cent.
Published in The Express Tribune, May 5th, 2014.
COMMENTS
Comments are moderated and generally will be posted if they are on-topic and not abusive.
For more information, please see our Comments FAQ