If it weren’t the sweltering heat, protests by the people enraged by load shedding of up to 20 hours a day have sure forced President Asif Ali Zardari to step in and try to reassure the public that the almost perennial problem would be solved soon.
The government was determined to find a quick fix to the problem, he said while addressing his party’s MPAs at Bilawal House in Karachi.
While the electricity deficit has decreased to 6,400MW, the government still seems to be busy in offering only short-term solutions, like the one other day where PM Yousaf Raza Gilani ordered to release Rs 1.5b to the independent power producers. The situation that has consistently been spiraling out of the hands of the government has reached new depths with violent protests across the country. Frantic efforts of the government to control either the load shedding or the protests have yielded in nothing.
The realisation of the need to address the issue is visible in president’s statement: “No matter what successes we may achieve in the political field, in empowering provinces, in constitutional reforms and fighting the militants, the people will judge us by the measure of success in overcoming the power shortages and the government is deeply conscious of it.” Whether his government, whose tenure is in its last few months, would be able to deliver it is yet to be seen.
The gap between the generation and requirement of electricity has put a severe load on the national grid. Many of the grid stations in the country are facing tripping and heavy load just as the mercury has started hitting 46C plus temperature.
High temperature, ironically, has not deterred the protesters in the country who continued their protests and took their anger out on government property and pretty much everything they could lay their hands on.
As the top PPP leadership finally seems to wake up to the public’s demands, protesters in Faisalabad, Punjab’s industrial hub, brought business activities to a halt. One man lost his life while two were injured when a local shop owner’s guard opened fire at the protesters. In reaction, the protesters attacked the shop, a fuelling station and force-shut down business in the Ghanta Ghar area.
In Lahore, protesters in Shahdara area destroyed Lesco’s offices and a toll plaza. The sizzling heat also forced protests in Sialkot, Sheikhupura, Sharqpur and many other cities. These violent protests have at last caught the attention of Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif, who still advocates for protests, only not violent.
He made an appeal to the public not to damage government property as it was not helping them in any way. He, however, was of opinion that protests should continue as a way to both force the central government to acquiesce to the demands of Punjab government and to minimise load shedding in the province.
Zardari vows end to power crisis as protests rage on
