In order to reduce load shedding in Ramadan, the Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) has increased power outages nowadays, sources told Pakistan Today on Thursday.
They said that PEPCO started saving fuel for Ramadan and as a result load shedding has increased nowadays. But there would not be a great relief for consumers in Ramadan meaning that there will be a minor decrease in power outages. The country is facing 14 to 18 hours of load shedding for the last few days resulting in protests and disturbance in routine life. The PEPCO managing director (MD) promised reduction in load shedding during Ramadan but the company is facing a shortage of fuel and gas. “If oil supplies remained the same then it will not be possible for PEPCO to reduce outages in Ramadan, therefore, it has been decided to save fuel and relieve people in the holy month,” an official, seeking anonymity, said.
He said that there is no other way for PEPCO to provide electricity during Ramadan, therefore, it was decided to store fuel and produce electricity during Ramadan and avoid wrath of the people. The official said that although PEPCO is trying its best to save fuel and reduce load shedding but it is unlikely that there will be a significant reduction. “Only Iftar and Sehri timings will be exempted from outages or there could be no load shedding at Tarawih time but during rest of the day, there will be usual closures,” he said adding that there is no way load shedding could be controlled unless gas and fuel supplies improved.
He said that presently, hydel generation is at its peak while production from oil and gas is less than 55 percent and it is causing load shedding. “If the required amount of oil and gas is ensured then there will be a reduction in load shedding,” he added. Load shedding remained high in the country and people experienced more than 16 hours of closures. There were long hours of power suspensions in urban and rural areas. Load shedding in urban areas remained 14 hours and in rural areas it crossed 16 hours. In many areas of the city including Walton, Ghaziabad, Township, Johar Town, Wahdat Road and Rehmanpura, electricity was shut down in the morning and restored in the afternoon. Closure of electricity caused problems for the Water and Sanitation Agency (WASA) to run tube wells and provide water to its consumers. As a result, there was a shortage of water in majority parts of the city. “The intensity of load shedding has increased rapidly in the last few days and now there is no water to drink,” consumer Zain Tariq of Mozang Area said.
