The shortfall of electricity has reached to 5000 megawatts due to which the power crisis has intensified. The sequence of load shedding after every hour is being continued in the different cities of the country and by virtue of this the people are in deep trouble.
It is the point of ponder that in winter when the demand is reduced by almost 50 percent, and the electric distribution companies (DISCOs)cannot fulfil this demand but when the summer would come and the demand of electricity would be doubled then how the deficiency would be accomplished.
Due to cold weather people are less concerned about the load shedding but the anger of the people would go up with the rise of temperature on the power failures.
It is a real tragedy that currently there are almost 185 power plants present in the country with the generation capacity lies between somewhere between 45000 megawatts and 50000 megawatts but due to maladministration and lack of funds these plants are unable to produce even 14000 megawatts.
It has been told by the government the major reason for load shedding is the technical fault in Guddu power thermal plant but as a matter of fact it adds only 18000 megawatts of electricity to the national grid and at present it is partially functioning.
As far thermal power production is concerned, it covers almost 60 percent of the country. Now it is the obligation of the caretaker government to take immediate measures to resolve the power crises before elections.
According to the Economic Survey 2022, Pakistan has capacity for 60000 mw from the hydropower generation, whereas it can produce wind power by 40000 megawatts. The government should move swiftly towards these sources to overcome the deficiency of the electricity so as the load shedding could be finished in the country.
The inefficiency of the power generation as well as distribution companies and lack of technical staff in them is the cause of load shedding in Pakistan. The supply system has become so obsolete that it cannot tolerate even the bad weather conditions. In the entire country it has become a routine matter that when the powerful wind blows or it showers extremely, first of all the electricity trips off. But these companies do not take pain instead of receiving hefty bills from the consumers.
On one hand the government is enhancing electricity tariff on a regular basis and the cost of electricity has reached to that level that it becomes very hard for the working and middle classes to afford it and on the other side people are deprived of the electricity for about 8 to 12 hours daily.
The resourceful segment, which is hardly 5 percent of the society, can afford alternative sources of power production including solar panels and the remaining 95 percent is dependent on the electricity distribution companies for which they have to pay a very heavy cost of the electricity they use for their needs. Almost 60 percent of people are using domestic urgent power supply (UPS) at their homes and offices but the price of lead batteries and UPS has also reached beyond their budget.
The current demand for electricity is about 13000 to 14000 megawatts whereas if all the power generation plants would work on full capacity, they can produce some 46000 megawatts of electricity. But if the rulers are serious about coping with the power crises permanently then it requires major changes on administrative grounds along with drastic measures, ensuring ample funds and strict vigilance on the government level.