Daily Times

An end to load shedding is the backbone of every political party’s campaign for the hot seat. However, the last few years have been nothing more than a dance to the tune of one step forward, three steps back. Just as the never-ending bout of blackouts starts to recede out of public memory, we find ourselves back in the bottomless pit. Unannounced power cuts are back; leaving millions of families and businesses in the dark. In an attempt to take care of the problem, power distribution companies have been hauled in by the government for some answers. The current crisis was said to be triggered by outages of some thermal power plants, compounded by the sucked dry Tarbela Dam. Yet, more terrifying are speculations about the shortage getting direr in the coming days. Such a crippling breakdown in the face of a debilitating heatwave makes a perfect recipe for doom. Viral reports of as many as 25 schoolchildren fainting in Islamabad amid rising mercury is the perfect testament to the current dire straits. We are nowhere close to winning the epic battle.

The double tragedy stems from the constant blaring of government mouthpieces regarding our surplus generation capacity. Would better water availability to Tarbela recover the missing 3,300 MW and end our power woes?

The electric generation has definitely increased after decades of shortages. Going by the SAPM (Power), Tabish Gauhar, Pakistan would soon have about 38,000 MW of capacity. With a capacity approximately 1.5 times as much as the peak demand (during summer), we should have at least bid our final adieu to power cuts. It should be noted whatsoever that the new surplus status has come with its own set of unfamiliar problems: what to do with this expensive de trop? But ending load-shedding is not only about generation. Straightening out the grid and strengthening transmission lines are just as relevant to the debate. If cutting ribbons to new projects could fill the bill, ministers in the previous cabinets would have been more than happy to sail through. But alas! the long and twisted tale needs actions rather than lofty promises.

A paralysing shortfall of somewhere between seven and eight thousand megawatts is the order of the day. Rural areas all across the country are facing the brunt of unannounced outages of up to 20 hours. As per reports, the situation is most abysmal in some areas of Balochistan where masses are suffering from suspended power for an overwhelming 22 hours. All major cities have been left gasping for air with powerless industrial units and residents sick of sitting in the dark.

What is thus needed is a clear roadmap to steer out of the seemingly endless dark tunnel. Technical repairs would soon fire up the run-down Tarbela dam. But what about the gas shortage that has rendered the thermal plants out of action? The creaking network proves that all previous claims of zero load-shedding were nothing but an election gimmick. Fast forward to today, and Islamabad needs to snap out of this sad reminder of the bad old days of the early 2000s. There is no use of the idle surplus capacity when other nooks of the power sector are left unattended. Let’s try tending to the horse before celebrating the cart placed in front! *