ISLAMABAD, May 16 (APP):Federal Minister for Power Engineer Khurram Dastgir Khan on Monday informed the National Assembly no load-shedding is being carried out across the country at feeders having less losses.
Responding to a calling attention notice moved by Aliya Kamran (MMAP), Syed Mehmood Shah (MMAP), Kamal Uddin, and Mahreen (MMAP) Razzaq Bhutto (PPPP) regarding unannounced electricity load-shedding in rural as well as urban areas of Balochistan province the minister said that there has been no load-shedding at 76 feeders of Balochistan.
The Minister said the government believes in providing electricity to all the provinces without any discrimination.
He said the far-flung area of Balochistan province would be provided electricity through an “Off-Grid –Solution”. It is a solar solution that requires a system of batteries to work, he added.
He said that he had issued directives to solve the issue of low voltage in the Balochistan province. He said directions have already been given to the distribution companies that electricity should not be disrupted on technical grounds.
He, however, said the government is facing resource constraints in the provision of uninterrupted electricity due to the mismanagement of the previous government.
He said that power load-shedding had been curtailed since May 1 after increased fuel supply and plants’ maintenance.
“The power plants have resumed getting RLNG supply while the required quantity of furnace oil has also been made available from May 2 to add more generation to the national grid system,” the minister observed.
He thanked the authorities in the Ministries of Energy, Petroleum, and Finance for their cooperation to end load-shedding in the country.
He said Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif had directed to prepare a new policy to generate more electricity and enhance the performance of the energy sector.
The production of electricity in the country had reached up to 22,000 megawatts, and load-shedding was being managed at feeders having more losses, he added.
The past government showed negligence and did not timely arrange fuel for the power plants that caused power outages, he said.
He said the last Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz government had generated more electricity than demand in the past, but due to the mismanagement and inefficiency of the PTI regime, the menace of power outages again surfaced.
Recalling the PML-N government’s past tenure, Khurram Dastgir said there was zero load-shedding in the country on completion of five years tenure of their government on May 31, 2018. The circular debt which now had surged to Rs 2460 billion was only Rs 1060 billion during the PML-N past tenure, he said.
He also urged members of the House to convey the concerned quarters if they find any unscheduled load-shedding.
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