Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Asif said in parliament that the current power crisis will see its end in the next eight to ten days.According to report, he said that the electricity shortage that has plagued Pakistan for years, will start to subside in the next few days. The statement comes in the backdrop of the inauguration of a 760 megawatt (MW) power plant in Bhikki, Sheikhupura.The Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf has started its protest drive against power loadshedding, while the Pakistan People’s Party (PPP) has threatened to take to the street over the issue from Saturday. Khawaja Asif informed the house that certain power plants in the country had not been operational due to maintenance, adding that from May 1, there would be no unannounced loadshedding.Asif expressed the government’s aim to add 6,400MW to the national grid by the end of the year, surpassing Pakistan’s shortfall, which, according to him, stands at 5,200MW. Opposition parties have gone into protest mode over what they deem has been the government’s failure to resolve the power crisis.PPP Punjab’s central president Qamar Zaman Qaira announced that the PPP would be setting up protest camps at Lahore’s Minar-i-Pakistan and Liaquat Bagh in Rawalpindi.The prime minister ordered action against officials who failed to plan in advance for the summer season a day earlier, as the electricity shortfall crossed a record 7,000MW.Due to the shortfall, the duration of load-shedding in urban areas had increased to an average 14-16 hours. Loadshedding in rural areas was even worse, rising to 20 hours.The prime minister had expressed dissatisfaction over the negligence of departments concerned over the latest power situation that has put the government in an awkward political position at one of the most challenging times. Presiding over a special meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Energy, Nawaz had directed all resources to be put to use to reduce the current shortfall and provide maximum relief to people through as much reduction in load-shedding as possible.
The power load shedding in the country is increasing with the rising temperature. Although government has given its explanation regarding this issue in the parliament but if the practical steps are not taken the situation will remain out of control. The government should complete the maintenance of power plants before the start of summer. This shows government loopholes in decision making process. If the government fails to control the situation, strong protests can break out. The energy crisis is very huge agenda in Pakistan as PML-N had promised with the general public to fix the problem after coming into power. If the government failed to materialize its promise it will face dire consequences in upcoming elections and will lose the confident of people. The government needs to expedite the work on ongoing power projects and should ensure their completion on time so that power crisis could be controlled. The government should take steps to control current unannounced and prolong load shedding.
