People of the republic suffered upto 12 hours of electricity load shedding on Monday as the shortfall climbed over 5500 Mega Watts (MW).
Many cities of all four provinces experienced load shedding of at least eight hours. Inhabitants of rural and peripheral areas experience routine blackouts of upto 18 hours daily in the winter months. Authorities say that the increased load shedding is due to closure of canals and reduced outflow of water from Tarbela and Mangla dams.
The energy shortfall apart from disturbing daily retinues of citizens, has cast a disastrous spell on the economic and commercial activities of the country. The gas reserves of the country also seem to have vanished and many accuse the government of diverting gas to a few industries being run by state departments. The domestic consumers are deprived of gas, industries are shutting down due to shortage of gas and CNG stations are shut for at least four days a week. The government claims that gas has been diverted to power houses to generate electricity; however, there is neither gas nor electricity for the common masses.
