Pakistan’s energy crisis is no secret. The constant load shedding, especially during the Summers makes lives extremely difficult. With the rise in temperatures due to climate change, temperatures in Pakistan are rising each year. With no light, it is next to impossible to easily carry out the tasks of the day. However, all of that is allegedly changing.
The government has announced that by midnight tonight, Pakistan will be load shedding free
There is an addition of 8694 MW of energy to the grid, which will fulfil the energy demands of the country and rid us of the troubles of load shedding.
If we look at the developments in the energy sector since 2013, the breakdown looks something like this:
In April this year, the former Prime Minister pledged to eradicate the energy crisis in the country and also promised to take action against those creating hindrances in the process.
Awais Leghari, Federal Minister for Power, addressed a press conference to announce the good news
Feeders which have line losses less than 10% have been declared as load shedding free area. It will benefit more than 1 crore 50 lac consumers.#RoshanPakistan#RoshniPromisedRoshniDelivered pic.twitter.com/Pzeltd323I
— Awais Leghari (@akleghari) December 3, 2017
Umer Saif, a member of the Punjab cabinet urged people to look beyond political affiliations and appreciate the effort
Pakistan becomes free of load shedding at the strike of midnight tonight! As an eye witness to the struggle, adding over 8,500 MW to the national grid was a Herculean ask. Put your political differences aside and look forward to the bright future of this country! pic.twitter.com/DLA5J7TpjF
— Umar Saif (@umarsaif) December 3, 2017
Twitter users were quick to respond. And unfortunately, not many were ready to believe the end of load shedding
O, dear don't consider Lahore and a few cities to be the whole Pakistan. We live in FATA where there is hardly 30% of electricity is available to the masses.
— Muhammad Tariq Dawar (@khankhan1234598) December 4, 2017
5000 feeders become free of load shedding. Not whole Pakistan yet.
— Faisal Aslam (@DrFaisalAslam) December 3, 2017
Many had strong retorts to the claims made by the two government officials
How about publishing a list of feeders with more than 30% line losses so citizens in that area can start to report the power thieves?
— Saadia Bukhari (@SaadiaBukhari) December 4, 2017
Shame for the nation. i thought u r educated enough to understand the consumption and generation thing. Banao phudu awam ko
— allo.eth (@HassanSohail23) December 4, 2017
What a bogus claim that you are producing more electricity than demand, demand is almost half in winters. There is no reason for load shedding even in losses area. Where you will dump surplus electricity. A big lie.
— Muhammad Qasim (@MuhammadQasim59) December 4, 2017
During the last four years, the one problem that EVERY Pakistani wanted resolved was the energy crisis
Some were also hoping that it would end in a matter of six months, as promised. However, the problem only got aggravated during this time. People have had to face 14 to 16 hours of load shedding each year. Figures were misquoted during the entire time to keep the public in the illusion that a solution was being worked upon. The shortage in this entire time exceeded 7200MW. The authorities kept on reducing the figure to 5400MW, not quoting the actual figure instead.
During the heat wave of April this year, the relevant authorities accepted the lack of action to deal with the energy crisis.
However the problem seems to have been resolved, with the new year just around the corner. Currently, there is zero load shedding for around 60 percent of the consumers according to the government. And the national grid now has surplus energy. Midnight tonight will ensure everyone has a sufficient amount of energy to consume.