Denial: Govt says no power outages at Sehri, Iftar

Minister Abid Sher Ali says 85 to 95 per cent areas face no power outages

ISLAMABAD:

As people in areas of Karachi and Sindh continue to protest against power outages, Ministry of Water and Power on Tuesday claimed that owing to the government’s efforts 85 to 95 per cent areas across the country were enjoying zero-load shedding during Sehr and Iftar.

It further maintained that there was no forced load shedding but only outages that were scheduled— five hours in urban areas while 7 hours in rural areas—were being implemented. Briefing the media, State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali, flanked by Secretary Water and Power Younis Daga, said that there was no load shedding in 90 to 95 per cent urban areas and 80 to 85 per cent in rural areas during Sehr and Iftar.

He added that chief minister Khyber-Pakhtunkwa had demanded 1,400 Megawatts (MW) electricity to meet the energy demands of the province but the government instead was providing them surplus power supply of 1,457 MW.

The minister, however, admitted that there were certain constraints in the system of supplying electricity. He appreciated Sindh’s chief minister for endorsing the federal government decision to shut down shops in the evening to save electricity. Ali added that it was a global practice to close shops at nighttime as an energy saving initiative. He ruled out reports that there was shortage of furnace oil.

Expressing sorrow over deaths in Karachi the state minster said that the deaths were a result of suffocation following the heatwave. He prayed for the deceased and said that no one should use the tragedy for politicking.

Adding feathers to the federal government’s cap, Ali said that as many as 58 new grids were installed and 52 grids were upgraded across Pakistan. “This is why Balochistan is picking more power,” he said, adding that though there were security issues the government was taking concrete steps to improve the system.

Secretary Water and Power Younis Daga said there was Power information Technology Centre which was connected with 11 K-V feeders of power distribution companies (Discos) to assess the demand of electricity. He said that maximum power generation was 16,000 MW. “We have controlled the situation in only two days,” he said adding that the government was providing electricity to 350 cities and there was no load shedding in 90 to 95 per cent areas during Iftar and Sehr.

He claimed that load shedding has reduced considerably in comparison to the past three years.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 24^th, 2015.