Times are tough for Pakistanis these days. In addition to the inflationary pressure, Pakistanis also have to face frequent load shedding which has added to their worry.
One of Pakistan’s leading journalists, Dr. Moeed Pirzada has asked on Twitter about the hours of load shedding faced by different areas in Pakistan. He received interesting replies as citizens from different areas answered.
“People from other parts of the country should let us know how many hours of load shedding is in their cities and districts! Let us build a bigger picture of this crisis and failure,” Dr. Moeed Pirzada tweeted.
According to the responses, the duration of unannounced load shedding nationwide remains between six hours to 14 hours. Different sectors in Islamabad are facing three to four hours of unannounced load shedding. A similar situation persists in Lahore.
Islamabad, F-8, is experiencing 3-4 hours load shedding every day since April 2022; previously it had none. People from other parts of country should let us know how many hours of load shedding is in their cities & districts! Let us build a bigger picture of this crisis & failure https://t.co/Q2cx5TMc04
— Moeed Pirzada (@MoeedNj) June 3, 2022
A citizen from Dera Ghazi Khan reported that the electricity gets cut off for two to three hours after every twenty minutes. Sometimes there is consistent load shedding of seven to eight hours. The unannounced load shedding is seriously impacting work.
The situation is much dire in Balochistan as the area gets only 7 hours of electricity the whole day. Meanwhile, Azad and Jammu Kashmir faces an electricity shortage of up to 12 hours.
https://twitter.com/KGMandokhel/status/1532629022395465729?s=20&t=mic40AwUpiPBVVehJ7MD2w
Pakistan’s electricity crisis
The frequent load shedding in Pakistan comes after the electricity shortfall peaked at 7,000MW. Meanwhile, the country-wide demand for electricity is 28,000 MW.
The LESCO is also facing a shortfall of around 1200 MW after its demand peaked at 5200MW as compared to a power supply of 4000MW.
Read more: CPPA recommends an increase of Rs 3.15 per unit electricity
Power companies faced a shortage of oil and gas. The lack of fuel and gas supply to the power plants has resulted in the shortfall and once it will be overcome, the situation will improve. Moreover, the crisis deepened after 16 power plants shut down last month.
The Hub Power Company (HUBCO), Lalpir Power Limited, and PakGen Power have shut down 16 power plants – including Tarbela and Jamshoro – due to mismanagement in the supply of furnace oil.
While the current electricity crisis is another challenge for the incumbent government, there is no denying that it is the public who has to face the brunt of the failure of governance. Furthermore, the situation has worsened due to the high temperatures.
South Asia has been in the grip of an extreme heatwave since last month, with parts of Pakistan reaching a temperature of 50 degrees Celsius as officials warned of acute water shortages and a health threat.
Read more: Pakistan experiences 50C heatwaves
Swathes of Pakistan and India have been smothered by high temperatures since April in extreme weather that the World Meteorological Organisation (WMO) has warned is consistent with climate change.