ISLAMABAD – Federal Minister for Water and Power Raja Pervaiz Ashraf informed the National Assembly on Friday that there was no possibility for an end to load shedding in the country in the near future. During the NA question hour session on Friday, Ashraf said in response to a question raised by Parveen Masood Bhatti that all efforts were being made to control load shedding, but it would not be possible to completely bridge the gap between demand and supply in the near feature.
To another query he said during the last three years, 1,920 transformers of various electric supply companies had been stolen from various areas of the country. Sharing the details of stolen transformer, he said FESCO remained on top of the list by losing 911 transformers, followed by MEPCO and GEPCO that lost 247 and 213 transformers, respectively.
He said FIRs had been lodged and investigation was underway to trace out the culprits involved in the thefts. To another question raised by Malik Shakir Bashir, the minister said no industrial unit had been reported closed due to power outage. While answering a question raised by Parveen Masood Bhatti about the increase in power tariff in the last 18 months, the minister said the tariff was raised six times in the said period.
No respite from load shedding any time soon: Ashraf
