THE table of energy saving measures essential to meet the 2000 MW shortage of power in the Wapda region by May is obvious. It has hardly any new element to add to it to produce any surprising results.

Such moves here usually begin with suggestions of two weekly holidays, no after-dusk shopping, and reduction in street lighting as they are expected to save 800 MW, according to a Wapda official.

Another suggestion is to reduce or eliminate lighting of billboards mainly large ones and those of petrol stations which are over-lit.

Billboards are getting larger and larger day by day particularly on main roads consuming a great deal of electricity. One large billboard obscures another as they usually come in a chaotic cluster at street crossings and traffic islands. And that this should happen when there are nearly 100 TV channels in the private sector is astounding. Even nothing happened to the Sindh governor’s announcement last year to ban large billboards on Shara-i-Faisal. The ban was expected to be extended to other centres of the city, but that is not to be.

A major source of power consumption is now the security concern, particularly as the VVIPs move around at night. This concern has many dimensions of which the increased power consumption is only one.

While official suggestion is to reduce street lighting, which is already happening by default or through wilful steps, there is an urgent need to increase street lighting to curb the spreading street crime, particularly in areas where banks have their ATMS.

The increasing number of wedding halls all over the country and large homes where weddings take place with a multiplicity of functions are consuming a great deal of power. Wedding halls are lit up brightly even when no functions are being held there. It is for the sake of their advertisement, and if a VVIP like the president or the prime minister is visiting the function, the illumination is more pronounced and power consumption very large.

On the other side, it has been said officially that inflation will not come down unless the supply chain is extended and made plentiful. That can’t be done if shops close at sunset, particularly in winter.

If such frequent load-shedding or breakdown occurs in winter, how will we fare in May and after when power shortage exceeds 2000 megawatts. The situation is alarming. It is better to have regulated load-shedding than frequent and prolonged breakdowns due to overloading which was experienced in Karachi last summer. Houses in the city went without power for several days together and incited violence against KESC men. That should not happen again.

The Wapda and the KESC power production units should be made to work to full capacity and handicaps in the way of their functioning should be removed long before May, and right from now on. The power companies and oil companies should be paid their dues so that they can function smoothly. The transmission and distribution lines should be checked thoroughly and rectified, week components removed and maintenance done properly.

The KESC and Wapda officials should be asked to be vigilant in the performance of their duties so that any fault may not be allowed to occur.

Will two weekly holidays really save 300-400 MW of power as the Wapda officials claim? We have already too many holidays, and will we be able to afford 52 more in a year. Last time the experiment of two weekly holidays was far from a success. The promise of saving power did not come through to the extent it was expected. When the two-day holiday system came, Air Marshal Azeem Daudpota fell out of step quick. He said the two- day closure did not produce saving of energy that was promised. It is better that some factories should close on Fridays and reduce power demand for that day instead of all factories and offices closing on Saturdays and Sundays.

Will the ban on shopping after sunset really save 300 MW of power? Past experience showed that the saving of power was far less while the shoppers suffered a great deal.

If the VVIPs reduce their frequent visits to cities like Karachi or Lahore, particularly at night, they will not only be reducing the consumption of electricity, but also frequent road blocks they create on their arrival. They can also save fuel spent on helicopter flights as well instead of thousands of cars blocked on roads burning their petrol. We truly have to get modern instead of doing more of the same as we had been doing in the past in a vastly changed times.

The problem of shortage of power should be approached in a scientific manner instead of the conventional style and creating more problems than solving the existing ones.