Daily Times

Irrespective of winter or summer, there seems no end in sight to the energy crisis. A third consecutive breakdown within 28 days hit the country on Thursday. The tripping of 500/220 kV transmission lines at Dadu and Guddu grid stations blacked out almost all districts of the four provinces. The National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) blamed extreme weather conditions and fog for the latest power glitch. There is something fishy about the explanation. The repeated power failures cannot simply be explained away by blaming the weather conditions. Reportedly, the crisis surfaced due to inadequate supply of furnace oil to the thermal power plants, which resulted in low generation and the massive tripping for the third time in a month of the existing fragile grid system. Pakistan State Oil (PSO) is the supplier of the required furnace oil. The cash-starved company has been facing problems for quite some time because of spiralling collectible debt and the government’s apathy. Currently, PSO does not have enough money to ensure fresh imports of furnace oil. So, a further exacerbation of the energy crisis looms large. The non-recovery of bills by the power distribution companies is the root cause of the crisis. The PML-N had contested the 2013 elections on the platform of ridding the country of the power crisis but after the passage of one and a half years, it has miserably failed in fulfilling its commitment and all its claims have proved hollow. The government is only focusing on increasing power generation while it is making no investment to improve the decades-old rusty national grid and related power infrastructure, which is vulnerable to collapse at any time.

The government must take concrete steps and adopt a serious approach for the rectification of the root causes to rid the country of this energy crisis already crippling our economy. Despite the fact that the use of electricity is less in winter, we are still facing increasing power outages. It is very formidable to think about the situation in harsh summer conditions. The first and foremost step that needs to be taken is efficacious and fair collection of bills from the private and public sectors without any discrimination. Government functionaries and public departments are required to act responsibly and clear all their outstanding dues related to utility bills. A full inquiry into the recent power blackouts should be held and those responsible should be taken to task. It should be the government’s priority to upgrade the national grid and transmission lines so that they could sustain the increasing demand for energy. Induction of technical manpower and investment in power-related infrastructure should be ensured. The masses also have a role to play in resolving the crisis. They should discourage power theft and report such matters to the concerned quarters while cooperating in conserving energy to the extent humanly possible. *