Punjab govt preparing for load shedding protests

The Punjab government is preparing for a meeting of the Council of Common Interests (CCI) which is expected to be held on April 23 to discuss the issue of riots that are expected to spark as a result of intensive electricity load shedding and the chances that these might sabotage the upcoming polls.

According to a national newspaper, on Wednesday the provincial home and energy secretaries had been asked to prepare Punjab’s stance on the impact of enhanced power cuts, especially with regards to the smooth conduct of general elections, so that caretaker Chief Minister (CM) Najam Sethi could present it in the CCI meeting.

Sources said the secretaries were given these directives following a cabinet decision with regards to raising the issue with the federal government.

The cabinet was alarmed at the sporadic protests against prolonged load shedding in different cities of Punjab and was informed by concerned authorities that these could spread and intensify if frequency and duration of power cuts was not reduced soon.

Sources said the cabinet felt that protests could turn violent if the power load shedding was not controlled because it was hurting everyday life and business of masses all over the province. The outages are also disrupting water supply even in the provincial capital Lahore and to immediately tackle the shortage the CM had ordered to run tube-wells on diesel generators, issuing funds for the fuel on Tuesday.

They further said the energy secretary had been asked to calculate the existing power generation and the actual demand. He had also been asked to asses how much supply would help avert agitation in the province.

The home secretary, it was reported, was expected to prepare a report on protests, their potential and likely impact on the election process.

Meanwhile, it was learnt that the notification appointing the WAPDA chairman as the power sector coordinator had been withdrawn. By doing so, the federal water and power division had directly assumed responsibility of dealing with the power issue.

Sources said the actual issue was that Pakistan State Oil (PSO) and gas companies were not giving gas and furnace oil to power producing units because of non-clearance of their arrears that amount to billions of rupees. The government was required to pay Rs 55 billion to gas companies alone.