ISLAMABAD: The government has miserably failed in reining in load
shedding despite a change in the weather and a remarkable dip in electricity demand amid the reports that load
shedding is continuing from three to five hours in urban areas and four to six hours in rural areas. Load Management Plan (LMP), under which 21 cities across the country were to be rid of load
shedding, has fizzled out.
Sources said more electricity is available in the country than its demand and the country needs only 11,000 megawatt presently. Despite that, load
shedding is not being contained. The main reason behind it is incompetence and inefficiency on the part of government. The prolonged and unannounced load
shedding witnessed in Punjab a few days back has exposed the false claims of the Punjab government about overcoming load
shedding. Load
shedding from 10 to 12 hours was carried out in
DISCOs falling in Punj
ab. The ministry of water and power was shifting its burden to NTDC. NTDC had said that a transmission and grip station tripped due to lack of rainfall which led to prolonged load
shedding.
Sources said the major cause behind load
shedding is circular debt, which is on the rise day by day. Line losses are also skyrocketing in important
DISCOs rather than registering any decrease. If the overall situation is reviewed, we will co
me to know that line losses during the previous government were 18.2 percent, while at present they stand at 17.8 percent. Therefore, al
l the claims of government on containing line losses have proved false.
Sources said if the government does not observe load
shedding, then line losses will increase further and it will become impossible to control line losses. Daily Times tried to contact ministry of water and
power to ascertain their stance but al
l the efforts remained unproductive as no response was received from the ministry.
.jpg)
