Power shortfall tips the 7,500MW mark

• Water and Power Ministry says Rs 3.27 billion needed daily to overcome power shortfall

People across the country are facing the worst-ever electricity load shedding this summer amid record temperatures, as the power shortfall crossed the 7,500 megawatt mark on Thursday and load shedding duration rose to 20 hours a day in most areas.

Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) have been especial subjects of the prolonged and unscheduled electricity load shedding, facing outages varying between 18 to 20 hours a day.

Lahore, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Multan, Gujranwala and other cities in Punjab have been experiencing 18 to 20 hours load shedding for the past few days.

Urban areas are facing 18-20 hours of electricity load shedding amid soaring temperature.

Continuous power outage has affected domestic life to a great extent and caused water shortage in several areas.

Traders and business outlets have also been hit hard by load shedding.

According to officials, tripping of Guddu power station affected power generation of about 1300MW.

At present, the power supply across the country is 9,000MW and the demand around 16,500MW.

Meanwhile, Water and Power Secretary Anwar Ahmed Khan has said that approximately 3.27 billion rupees were required on a daily basis to deal with the electricity deficit.

During the session of Senate standing committee on water and power, senators protested against the prolonged hours of load shedding and hike in power tariff.

Senator Zahid Khan lamented that incorrect load shedding schedule had been provided, adding that 18 hours of unannounced power cuts were being carried out.

He demanded suspension of those responsible for misleading the committee.

The committee asked the officials to carry out load shedding in the President’s House, Prime Minister’s House, Parliament House, Supreme Court, Judges colony, minister enclave and diplomatic enclave and no one should be given exemption.

They said employees of WAPDA should also not be given any relaxation in this regard to provide maximum relief to the masses.

Officials of the Water and Power Ministry informed the committee that the Finance Ministry was not cooperating and was not releasing funds to purchase fuel for power generation.

“We held certain meetings with them, they have now agreed to provide Rs 10 billion on May 28,” they said.

The committee said monitoring system of the power sector had failed because officials of departments working under the Ministry of Water and Power were giving different statements.

Zahid Khan showed displeasure over the performance of NEPRA, recommending NEPRA not to include recently-approved fuel adjustment charges in the electricity bills and leave the matter to the coming government.

It also recommended the ministry stop supply of 650MW to the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) immediately.