Karachi: As the temperature continues to rise across the country, the power shortage peaked at 7,000 megawatts causing hours’ long electricity shutdowns across the country prompting street protests in several districts.
The power crisis surged again forcing electricity distribution companies to shut down their grid stations for up to three hours compounding power outages, sources said.
Power sector officials said that the demand suddenly rose because of a heat wave and the monsoon. The demand rose to 20,000 megawatts against the supply of 13,000 megawatt electricity in the country.
In Lahore alone, the second largest city, the power shortage reached 2,700 megawatts, they said. Many parts of the city were without electricity during iftar.
In Batapur, a town in Lahore bordering India, protesters took to the streets all day long, smashed the windscreens of passing cars and burnt tyres in front of the electricity company. They also blocked Grand Trunk Road, better known as G.T. Road.
They continued their protest along the Sikh Canal and their aggression compelled the electricity officials to flee their offices.
The power crisis left this mega city in the dark as well, with shortages causing six hours of load shedding in many parts. Power production remained around 2,100 megawatts against the demand of 2,400 megawatts.
Pakistan is blighted by rolling power cuts in many parts of the country. Ordinary people in Pakistan struggle without electricity for 12 to 18 hours a day in the blistering heat of summer.
Solving Pakistan’s energy crisis was a key campaign pledge for Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif in the run up to the 2013 general elections.
But the daily power cuts, known as load-shedding have already begun this year even though the government planned many new power generating plants and promised to resolve the financial crisis of the energy sector.