Voltage Overlords Make Baloch Existence More Unbearable

Power crisis still raging; Balochistan worst hit

LAHORE: The power shortfall could not dwindle out despite it being a weekend with spans of 8 to 10 hours of load shedding being carried out in cities and 14-hour duration in the rural areas, Geo News reported Sunday.
The government’s failure is out and out conspicuous in Balochistan where the span of power outages swelled to 20 hours, which triggered the problem of water shortage.
Despite the tall claims by the government to cut down the power shortfall with the help of two weekly holidays, shortfall persisted itself with the power production standing at 10,500 Megawatts and demand still rising at 13,900 MWs, according to statistics provided by Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO).
No proper load shedding schedule has been hammered out, as unequal spans of affliction are being carried out in the cities of the country.
The power outage span in Karachi, Islamabad and Faisalabad is three hours; however, this span is ballooned to 12 hours in other cities including Lahore.
In 14 districts of Balochistan, people are being bedeviled for 20 hours a day for ten days now. Water supply is badly affected, which has adversely impacted on agriculture. The problem has forced citizens to run around all day for potable water.
Sindh’s urban areas including Larkana, Qambar Shahdadkot, Nawab Shah, Qazi Ahmed, Jakobabad, Shikarpur, Obaro and Ghotki do not receive power for 12 to 14 hours; while, the rural areas are affected with 14 to 16-hour of load shedding.
Hyderabad is suffering from 8 to 10 hours of load shedding.
The urban areas of Bahawalpur are hit with 12 to 14 hours of load shedding and the span widens 14 to 16 hours in rural areas. It is cotton-sowing season and farmers are in hot waters, as the power crisis made them unable to run their tube wells.
Several hours of load shedding are being carried out in Punjab cities including Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan, Rahim Yar Khan, Muzzargarh AND Faisalabad.
The people are facing great problems in hot weather in Khyber Pakhtoonkhaw, where 12 to 14 hours of load shedding has made the life miserable in urban areas and 16 hours in rural areas.
The power crisis also sapped the blood from trade life.