Daily Times

The annual arrival of harsh summer conditions, coupled with unannounced electricity load shedding, make life a living hell in Pakistan. The citizens, especially poorer ones, are the ultimate sufferers of this mismanagement on the part of the government. According to National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC), the demand for electricity has reached 16,300MW whereas the production remains 10,100MW — hence a shortfall of 6,200MW. These continuous power cuts have triggered protests across the country. So far protests have been organised by PTI workers in Lahore whilst the PPP has issued a call to start its agitation the 22nd of April across the country.

This could be a mere start and if the government fails to control the situation, more disruptive protests can break out, with violence as a very real possibility — as previous years have shown.

In a bid to save domestic consumers from the scourge of load shedding, the government had decided to cut down on the electricity supply to industrial units. Leaving aside the question of whether or not that is a wise choice, the fact is that there is still no respite for citizens. Power outages are continuing unabated. The government offers little consolation when it speaks of a sudden surge in demand for power as the explanation for this situation.

Many voices are claiming that the fault lies with the priorities set by the government. Somehow, the country’s power generation capacity has to be increased dramatically, whilst also upgrading the national grid and transmission lines so that they could sustain the increasing demand for energy.

Let us leave aside detailed discussions around power pricing, distribution network management and circular debts. The fact is that a respite from Pakistan’s power crisis was one of the cardinal promises made by the PML-N in the 2013 elections. Now, after almost four years, there is no end in sight to the crisis. 10 to 12 hours without electricity a day: such is the reality of life for the average Pakistani. Abstruse and technical discussions around energy economics may be beyond the common citizen, but this fundamental failure of the government to live up to what it had promised is not lost on anyone. And this will have its political costs, without a shred of doubt.

It is true that the Prime Minister has taken notice of the situation and reprimanded the Ministry of Water and Power. It is far from enough though, unless it produces tangible results. The harsh summer conditions are already becoming unbearable and lame excuses on the part of the Ministry of Water and Power will no longer do. *