Severe Power Crisis in Pakistan

Life in Pakistan has all but come to a standstill with an ever increasing number of power cuts. These planned power outages due to a lack in capacity affect the whole country and are called "load shedding".

Industries have stopped working due to electricity shortages, leading to a loss in the production. This again means that people are thrown out of jobs. Saheed Farhaz, the owner of Nafisa Textiles in Lahore says, "I am facing 5 to 8 hours of load shedding a day now. I have to pay the labour charges and other input costs, so definitely the result will be a huge loss. So power is a big issue here."

Not only for the industrial sector, also for common men and women. Without air condition or fans, the heat becomes unbearable. A Karachi resident complains, "as a common Pakistani, I am suffering a lot because of this power shortage. Unfortunately, I am unable to go on with my daily routine and cannot even reach office on time due to the long power breaks at night."

Capacity shortages

Pakistan failed to implement long-needed power projects during the economic boom between 2002 and 2007. Although the government has now approved the 4,500 megawatt Diamer-Bhasa dam project and other hydropower projects to overcome the energy crisis, experts think a short term plan is in need. Professor Abid A. Burki from the Lahore University of Management Sciences says:

"For example we have sugar mills and other manufacturing units who have surplus electricity and you need to devise a mechanism how that electricity can be brought into the main system. Secondly, Pakistan possesses the third largest coal reserves in the world and it is about time that the policy makers seriously consider the potential to generate electricity through coal. And finally, the policy makers in Pakistan must start popularising energy use efficiency simply by raising awareness."

Outsourcing power generation

While the government has taken up a temporary plan of outsourcing power generation to private so-called rental power plants, Burki thinks this solution is too expensive, as they tend to charge more for the electricity.

"This is a double edged sword", says Burki. "Because letting a shortfall in electricity persist would contribute to a slowdown in the growth rate of Pakistan's economy; on the other hand, achieving self-sufficiency by involving these rental power plants might again lead to a slowdown in the growth rate because the cost of electricity would shoot up."

Experts believe it is high time that a stable policy is implemented to solve the problem. Otherwise, the widespread agitations and protests against the power crisis all over Pakistan will destabilize the country further and hamper its focus on fighting militancy and terrorism.

Author: Debarati Mukherjee
Editor: Grahame Lucas