Adviser to Chief Minister for Information and Archives Maula Bux Chandio on Friday slammed the federal government, WAPDA and K-Electric for their blatant failure in fulfilling their promise of providing uninterrupted electricity to the people of Sindh during Iftar and Sehr.
In a statement issued here, the adviser said, “Up to 18 hours of electricity load shedding in rural areas and eight hours in towns of Sindh is being carried out by WAPDA. K-Electric is also busy carrying out load shedding in Karachi, particularly in slums. Furthermore, during the recent monsoon rains, many feeders of WAPDA and K-Electric tripped, causing enormous trouble to the people.”
Chandio said that on one hand, the country was sizzling in burning heat while on the other hand the country’s power shortfall had crossed 6,000 MW due to lethargic policies of the federal government which, according to him, was nothing but a total failure.
“According to a report, total national demand, excluding Karachi, peaked at 19,500 MW against the generation of 15,886 MW. Thermal sector generated some 9,900 MW, hydle 4,850 MW and wind 175 MW,” the adviser noted.
Chandio said that electricity was important for social life, industries, agriculture and overall economy, and Pakistan’s national progress depended on electricity and other energy sources, but ironically Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif had failed to offset energy crisis.
“Amid scorching heatwave, the federal government, WAPDA and KE have made big promises of providing uninterrupted and reduced power load shedding but they have badly failed to give any relief to the people of Sindh,” he said, adding that Sindh was being victimised not only in budget share but also in power share.
He said that the energy crisis had turned worst across ever-since the PML-N government took over the country, adding that Nawaz Sharif and his cronies had disappointed the nation by making fake promises about uninterrupted power supply during Iftar and Sehr.
“It has now become clear that the PML-N government in connivance with the WAPDA is deliberately punishing people of Sindh with massive load shedding amid scorching heatwave,” said the adviser as he warned the federal government to desist from anti-Sindh moves.
Chandio said the Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB) was considered as one window facilitator for promoting private sector participation in the power sector and its objective was to facilitate investors in establishing private power projects and related infrastructure, but it also failed to show any performance. Besides, he added, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority’s role was also not satisfactory in controlling organisations that caused massive load shedding.
Chandio said that Alternative Energy Development Board (AEDB) also needed to work more for providing alternative energy to the country. “Pakistan mainly depends on oil and gas resources to fulfill its energy requirements. Indigenous resources of oil are not enough to quench energy thirst of a growing economy; therefore, the federal government should take steps to provide relief to the people of Sindh as promised by it and avoid showing step-motherly treatment to Sindh,” Chandio said.
Chandio further said that the Pakistan People’s Party was fully committed to ramping up power generation, including solar power, and would help bring sustainable, clean, climate-friendly electricity to millions of people when it came to power. However the PPP’s Sindh government was fully working in this regard, he added.
Chandio said, “The matter of balancing power supply and demand is still largely unresolved as electricity producers seem to be a big failure. The main problem of low power generation is the rising political instability in the country which has been caused by the PML-N government and anti-democracy forces working with it.”
