A large majority, 93 percent of the people, views electricity shortages and load shedding in their localities as very serious (57 percent) or serious problem (36 percent), according to a latest survey by Gilani Research Institute and Gallup Pakistan.
The survey said people were divided on how to protest against electricity shortages and load shedding, with 53 percent favouring street protests and 43 percent disagreeing with the mode of protest.
It said Pakistanis used a range of coping mechanism to fight electricity shortages and load shedding: 28 percent used emergency lights, 15 percent used UPS, 10 percent used gas lamps and 10 percent used generators. But 15 percent said they stopped working altogether. The survey said a majority was dissatisfied with electricity suppliers: level of dissatisfaction varied on different dimensions such as load shedding (82 percent), faulty metres (67 percent), unstable voltage (69 percent), irregular billing (51 percent) and overall dissatisfaction (72 percent).
