ISLAMABAD, May 30: Representatives of the Karachi Electric Supply Company on Wednesday briefed members of the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Water and Power about the current situation of power supply to the city.

The committee members were informed that Karachi was facing a shortfall of 430 megawatts.

A KESC representative said Karachi had been divided into four zones and the industrial sector had been exempted from load-shedding. He said that the current electricity demand for this year was 2,400MW but the KESC was generating only 1,150MW. He said the Wapda provided the city 550MW during the day and 715MW at night. In addition, he said, 220MW was being bought from an independent power producer. Representatives of the Gujranwala Electric Power Company (GEPCO) and Faisalabad Electric Supply Corporation (FESC) briefed the committee about the ongoing village electrification programme.

Meanwhile, the committee members expressed annoyance over the absence of Federal Minister for Water and Power Liaqat Ali Jatoi. They asked the chairman to ensure the minister’s presence at the next meeting.

Presided over by chairman Ghulam Murtaza Maitla, the meeting was attended by Syed Mohammad Asghar Shah, Mohammad Sanaullah Khan Mastikhel, Sahibzada Mehboob Sultan, Dewan Syed Jaffar Hussain Bokhari, Syed Khursheed Shah, Ghalib Domki, Maulana Mohammad Qasim, Mufti Ibrar Sultan, Pervez Qureshi, Sardar Shah Jahan Yusaf and Syed Zafar Ali.