GIVEN how serious the power crisis in Pakistan is, and how deep it runs, it is astonishing to see the casual claims that are continuously being made by those at the top in the Ministry of Water and Power, as well as the government leadership.

The latest in a long line of such claims comes from the Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali, who tells us that 660MW of electricity will be generated from Thar coal by the year 2017 — just two years away.

Before this, many PML-N leaders had made the poll campaign promise that they would “end load-shedding” within six months, but after coming to power, extended the period to 2018.

Take a look: Production of 660MW electricity from Thar coal to start by 2017 end: minister

The previous government had their Dec 31 date to live down throughout their tenure, and at one point the chief minister Sindh had claimed that electricity from Thar coal would be generated within six months after allotting a block there to an unknown party from the Gulf.

So, we should, perhaps, take the latest claim with a pinch of salt. For one, the transmission line to carry that quantity of electricity has not even begun to be laid down. Secondly, water arrangements for the power plant, which will require massive quantities of freshwater to operate, have not been made.

Third, open cast mining will be required in Thar where the overburden is large and soft. This is a far bigger project than most who have tried to execute it realise, and it is unlikely that all the homework required to ready it for commercial operations in two years can be done in that period.

The power sector has long attracted wild and misleading claims by various leaderships, and it is high time that the practice of creating false hopes, which are feeding cynicism in society, ended. We do not need feel-good statements; we need actual answers that we can bank on about the future of the country’s power sector.

Published in Dawn, May 6th, 2015

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