LAHORE, Sept 4: Frequent power failures in many parts of the city on Sunday landed people in a great deal of inconvenience. The power interruptions or loadshedding for hours has become a permanent feature and the people wonder what the Water and Power Development Authority is up to.

Wapda officials insist that loadshedding in a surplus regime makes no sense, as the authority has around 800mw of surplus power. “Why will the authority opt for loadshedding and slash its income?” they ask.

“We have to face power shutdown for at least two hours daily,” complained Aslam, a resident of Walton Road.

He said whenever the complainants talked to Lesco officials they simply said it would take an hour or so in removing the fault. It had become a routine, he added.

A consumer from Tech Society said electricity shutdown had been too frequent to believe that it was loadshedding. In this hot and humid weather, even few minutes without electricity were difficult to pass.

“Only in Lahore does the Lesco system suffer hundreds of trippings every day,” said a resident of Bhati Gate.

According to a Wapda official, the high command has not taken any decision of loadshedding. However, it is a fact that the entire distribution system is overloaded and causing severe problems for the consumers.

“The authority has not been able to cope with the situation,” he admitted, but added that the damage done by kite-flying was certainly there.