HYDERABAD, Jan 19 The ongoing energy crisis and the resultant electricity load management plan have severely affected the industrial activities in Kotri and Nooriabad of Jamshoro district where manufacturing and production losses are estimated at around 30 per cent.

The situation has forced owners of a large number of industrial units to lay-off daily wagers, thus further pushing up the already high unemployment figures in the country.

In the wake of a countrywide shortfall of 4,500MW of electricity, the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) had announced a six-hour load management schedule to face the energy crisis.

According to a recent statement of a senior Wapda official, there is a shortage of 600,000 to 700,000 cusecs water storage as compared with the last year.

Out of the 64 industrial units of Nooriabad, ten textile units have been closed due to factors of increased loan mark-up, overhead expenses, recent raise in electricity and gas tariffs. The overall situation has made it difficult for the country's textile industry to effectively compete in the international market.

“We simply can't compete with China or India in the international market given the overhead cost of our products. The cost has increased manifold in the recent past,” said Ziaur Rehman, president of the Executive Club of Textile and Industry, Nooriabad.

In Nooriabad around 22 industrial units are generating power on their own while the remaining are dependent on the already fragile supply network of the Hesco and the ongoing load-shedding has rendered those units almost non-functional. Due to the losses incurred, unskilled workers whose exact number could not be ascertained are being laid-off.

Apart from this, the interruptions in the power supply to Nooriabad have also caused acute water shortage. Water is being lifted at sixteen different points through boring system in Nooriabad, which gets affected whenever there is a disruption in electricity supply.

In this regard, a delegation of the Nooriabad-based industrialists had urged the Hesco high-ups to make special arrangement for water supply to the area.

“We have asked the Hesco chief to ensure uninterrupted supply through some separate power supply system at least for water supply to our units,” said Ziaur Rehman.

When asked as to how many daily wage workers have been sacked due to non-availability of one shift in the factories, he said that roughly 1,000 to 1,500 workers had been laid-off in Nooriabad alone.

Situation in Kotri's industrial area is no different as factory owners are faced with similar problems.

The president of the Kotril Trade and Industry (KATI), Qasim Soomro, said that interruption in power supply always had a negative impact on the overall functioning of an industrial unit.

He also said that most of the industrial units functioning in Kotri were facing losses of around 30 per cent due to the ongoing load management programme being implemented by the Hesco.

In Kotri's industrial zone, as many as 91 industrial units are functioning most of them associated with the textile sector. Some of the units here are also producing electricity through their own resources and are generating around 74MW while 22MW are being supplied through the Wapda.

Soomro confirmed that maximum sacking of workers took place in textile units.

“We are better off with the six-hour power supply suspension because one to two hours of disruption takes our cost of production to a new height, which becomes unaffordable for us,” he remarked.