ISLAMABAD: Amid volatile electricity supplies, the government has reshuffled the Pakistan Rail­ways freight transport team following disruptions in coal movement for base-load power stations in Punjab.

Coal stocks at the Sahiwal Power Plant, a 1,320-megawatt base-load facility, had fallen to levels sufficient for only a few days of operation as railway authorities and plant management remained engaged in prolonged legal and procedural disputes.

Informed sources said the Power Division had taken up the matter with the prime minister and the National Coordination and Management Committee (NCMC) which concluded that instead of unnecessary wrangling, the matter should have been resolved amicably given the national importance of running the base load power stations, particularly when the LNG based generation capacity was mostly unavailable.

A power sector official said the situation was now under control as coal stocks for Sahiwal power plant were currently in transit. In case of coal stocks running out, the non-availability of the said plant would not have resulted in direct 1,200MW additional power shortfall but could have created problems for the grid stability already in going through testing times. “Starting early this week, we are comfortable with fuel supply arrangements,” a power sector official told Dawn.

Govt reshuffles railway freight team to save national grid

Sources said that while the railway leadership survived due to right connections, grade-19 and 20 officers were replaced with new faces to run freight transport smoothly while the chief executive of Pakistan Railways was allowed to proceed on 90-day ex-Pakistan leave.

According to notifications seen by Dawn, Waqar Ahmed Sheikh, a grade-20 executive director of Pakistan Railways Freight Trans­port Company (PRFTC), was transferred to Railway Headquarters in Lahore as chief operating superintendent to replace a grade-19 officer, Kashif Rasheed Yousfani. Muham­mad Ali Chachar, another BS-20 officer working as director general operations, replaced Mr Shaikh.

Also, another BS-20 officer of commercial and transportation, posted at Quetta, was also transferred to Peshawar as divisional superintendent. He was replaced by Mehmood-ur-Rehman Lakho, a BS-19 officer.

Likewise, Farman Ali, a BS-20 officer of Railway Civil Engineering Peshawar, was posted as divisional superintendent Sukkur and replac­ed Jamshaid Alam, a BS-19 officer who was posted as divisional superintendent Karachi in place of Mr Lakho.

“All of the changes were done this week due to Sahiwal power supplies,” an official said, adding that besides the exogenous challenges, transportation of coal was facing problems putting in question the reliability of about 1,500-1,800MW of coal-based generation when it was needed the most. With the intervention of the Prime Minister Office and the NCMC, the issues have been streamlined, sources said.

Published in Dawn, April 22nd, 2026