JUST as the people switch on their fans to mark the advent of summer, the burning hell of prolonged loadshedding has been let loose upon them. The duration of loadshedding in the cities has risen to 13 hours and in villages to 19 hours. The Lesco [Lahore Electric Supply Company] authorities are blaming the current power shortfall of 6,000MW for the increase in loadshedding. Power production in the country has dropped to only 7,500MW as against a demand of 13,000MW, leading to the closure of grid stations even for approximately three hours at a stretch.

Lesco is faced with an emergency and therefore declares that any grid station can be closed any time. The worst power crisis has stopped the industrial wheel and once again workers have been made jobless. The families of daily wagers are being forced into starvation. Unscheduled cuts in power supply to industrial and domestic users have gone to sickening extremes for the people.

Just as the latter heave a sigh of relief upon the restoration of the power supply, the electricity is suspended sine die.

A majority of tubewells in the cities are run on electricity, and they too remain closed because of loadshedding, creating an acute shortage of water. Loadshedding is unbearable for the people who have already been crushed by inflation. If this menace is not controlled, the people will take to the streets and there will be no place for the rulers to hide. The government and the Ministry of Water and Power are required to plan comprehensively to overcome the loadshedding. There is also a need to make advance payments to private power production companies and to run small power houses that have stalled operations since long. — (April 6)

Selected and translated by Intikhab Hanif