The perennial issue of power shortages
On Sunday the temperature in Karachi was extremely hot and humid. The load shedding made cooling systems useless. Power failure also led to water shortage which further contributed to deadly heat strokes. All the three factors caused about 132 deaths. In case these factors continue to operate with the same intensity, the toll would further increase. The federal government has washed its hands of the tragic happenings, putting all responsibility on K-Electric claiming it had been supplied 650MW electricity which was enough to provide uninterrupted power supply to 93pc urban and 86pc rural areas.
The issue of power shortages is not confined to Karachi only as the media reports over the last three days amply prove. On Monday, the Opposition parties staged a walk out from the National Assembly in protest against shortages and countrywide protests were reported from all the four provinces. This indicates that there is something basically wrong with the government’s power policy. Among other things the government’s priorities need to be revised. Soon after the PML-N formed government, the party’s leadership declared that power shortages and terrorism were the two most urgent problems of Pakistan. However, instead of focusing on improving power supply, it directed full attention to metro buses and signal-free roads which being short gestation projects were considered to be more useful for winning the next general elections. Meanwhile, the minister for power was encumbered with the defence portfolio also, while several dilettantes were allowed to experiment with the power sector which led to the present unhappy situation.
The gap between supply and demand will continue to express itself in power shortages. Denials by power secretary of ‘forced load shedding’ will not satisfy people who have to live without power at home and at workplaces for hours. The government has to ensure that the power generating units work at full capacity while it has also to take measures to shorten the gap between supply and demand.