PM envisages load shedding-free Ramzan

–PM Abbasi orders power division to ensure uninterrupted power supply during Ramzan, especially at Sehr and Iftaar timings

–Parts of country face load shedding upto 16 hours 

ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi on Tuesday directed the Power Division to ensure that all units of power plants remain online for uninterrupted power supply at Sehr and Iftaar during the forthcoming month of Ramzan.

The prime minister gave the directions during a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Energy (CCoE). The meeting discussed issues related to the energy sector and reviewed the load management plan during the summers, particularly during the month of Ramzan.

Minister for Power Sardar Awais Ahmed Leghari, Finance, Revenue and Economic Affairs Adviser Miftah Ismail and senior officials of concerned ministries and departments were present during the meeting.

According to a press release, the meeting discussed the reform agenda in the power sector and emphasised the need for early completion of need-assessment for procuring quality human resource and streamlining of the recruitment process in the Ministry of Energy.

The CCoE directed distribution companies for effective measures to reduce line losses and improvement in recovery of power dues.

The prime minister’s directives come on the heels of Karachi protests regarding the rampant load shedding in the city. Moreover, K-Electric had also hinted at an increased load shedding in different areas of the city during Ramzan.

Despite claims of eradication of load shedding from the country, most parts of the country suffer from power outages, some with 16 hours per day.

A BBC Urdu report quoting government’s figures stated that 39 per cent electricity feeders are affected by load shedding and 61 per cent electricity feeders are free from the outage.

According to the government, out of 8,600 feeders, 5,297 are load shedding free which means 60 per cent of the country don’t face power outages, while 40 per cent suffers from outages from 2 to 16 hours depending on power theft and other factors.

Out of the 40pc, 28pc feeders face four to six hours of load shedding, while 1 per cent, at least 0.17 million people, face 12-16 hours of outages.

Out of 5,297 zero-load shedding feeders, 1,227 belong to Lahore Electric Supply Corporation (LESCO), 748 belong to Gujranwala Electric Supply Corporation (GESCO), Faisalabad Electric Supply Corporation (FESCO) has 896 load shedding-free feeders while Multan’s 769 are also immune from the outages.

In other parts of the country, Sukkur Electric Supply Corporation (SESCO) faces worst of the outages as only 24 of its feeders are load shedding-free; it provides power supply to Larkana, Shikarpur, Noushero Feroz, Ghoutki and Jacobabad.