Water and Power Federal Minister Khawaja Asif said on Friday that the government is trying desperately to control loadshedding across the country but the people would still have to bear the misery of power cuts for a while.
Talking to media, Asif admitted that the government itself is one of the biggest defaulters of power charges.
He said that power shortage (demand and supply gap) has risen to 3,200 megawatts with the advent of summer during which use of air conditioners increases significantly.
Asif said that his ministry intends to recover overdue power bills by June, adding that’s why power connections of many of the federal and provincial institutions were cut at the weekend.
He announced that 2,200 megawatt electricity will soon be added to the national grid as the government is working on several power generation projects.
The federal minister said that those protesting were defaulters and wanted to steal electricity through ‘kundas.’ According to Asif the government did not want millions to suffer because of some defaulters.