The latest crisis that has Pakistani’s from all walks of life up in arms is the lack of electrical power throughout the country. While rolling blackouts or load-shedding, as it’s locally known, has always been a staple of daily life in Pakistan.
The problem has become acute in the last couple of years. This crisis appears insurmountable in the near or even long-term future unless proper understanding and correct implementation is undertaken on priority basis
Energy resources have depleted. Whatever resources are available are simply too expensive to buy or already acquired by countries which had planned and acted long time ago.
Delayed efforts in the exploration sector have not been able to find sufficient amounts of energy resources. Nations of the world which have their own reserves are not supplying energy resources anymore; only the old contracts made decades ago are active. Many industries have closed due to insufficient power supply.
Price of oil has gone above the ceiling. At domestic level, alternate methods like solar, biogas and other methods are being tried for mere survival.
The above is a likely scenario of Pakistan and around the globe after 25 years. A pessimistic view, but realistic enough to think about and plan for the future. But are we doing anything about it?
SADIA ZAHEER
Lahore
