Long hours of power outages in scorching summer heat irked people in all parts of the country including the provincial capital Lahore. The power shortfall is heading towards 5,000 MW and the public has started witnessing 10 to 12 hours of load shedding in the urban areas and 14 to 16 hours in rural areas. Many reported over 12 hours of load shedding in the city on Friday.
Township, Green Town, Iqbal Town, Faisal Town, Ghari Shahu, Mustafa Abad, Sadar, Mughalpura, Multan Road are among the worst hit areas of the city. Residents of these areas complained that it had become a routine matter over the last couple of days that a power outage was witnessed after every half an hour.
However, officials of the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) claim that they were not carrying out unscheduled load shedding, but from some areas they were getting tripping complaints owing to a heavy load on the system. They said LESCO was facing the problem of forced electricity shutdowns from Islamabad.
Data released by Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) indicates that electricity shortfall has swelled by 40 percent during the last 72 hours, because of the outstanding inter-corporate debt. Figures illustrate that electricity shortfall was around 4,600 MW on June 20, which dropped by 1,475 MW the next day, merely on the announcement made by the prime minister to make partial payment of the circular debt. However, the announcement and a partial payment of Rs 5 billion made by the National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) could not keep the electricity generation and demand sustainable. However, the government has promised to clear the outstanding amount by June 28, but IPPs argue that the government has made a stopgap arrangement, as the amount would further aggravate during this period.
Responding to a question, a senior PEPCO official said that he did not see any major respite in electricity load shedding during the current summer season. He said it could only be possible if the government cleared outstanding dues of power generation companies and oil supplies improved.
Punjab Governor Sardar Latif Khosa has said that a commission on electricity load shedding should be constituted, which should investigate how the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), which in 1996 had left the power generation capacity of the country at 19,000 MW, reversed the situation by humiliating the IPPs and dragging them to the Supreme Court. He was addressing the teachers training workshop at Kinnaird College.
