The Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) on Tuesday told the National Assembly (NA) Standing Committee on Water and Power that it was impossible to end electricity load shedding before 2018. The meeting was informed that according to the projections, the difference between the domestic electricity demand and supply could not be bridged until 2018.
The meeting, held under the chairmanship of Ghulam Mustafa Shah at the Parliament House, was called to get a briefing on the upcoming hydel power generation projects in the country. The meeting was informed that according to the projections the difference between the domestic electricity demand and supply would not be bridged till 2018. PPP legislator Syed Sajjadul Hassan, an MNA from Okara, warned that all WAPDA and PEPCO offices in Okara would be torched if 22-hour load shedding continued in the district, adding that he would lead the demonstrators himself.
WAPDA Chairman Shakil Durrani told the committee that a test study would be conducted before generating electricity from Diamir-Bhasha Dam, adding that the Gilgit-Baltistan region had the potential to generate 60,000MW to 100,000MW of electricity. “We are working to bring hydropower production to the 50 percent mark,” he stated. He said power plants in Muzaffargarh, Jamshoro and Guddo were being upgraded and the capacity of Mangla Dam would be increased by 15 percent by its raising and upgrading. The WAPDA chairman said the country’s electricity demand would increase to 130,000MW by 2030.
Meanwhile, a WAPDA spokesman in a statement denied that Durrani had made the comment on load shedding.