Asad Umar promises end to unscheduled load-shedding in Karachi

KARACHI : Unscheduled power outages by K-Electric will come to an end from tomorrow onward, Federal Minister for Planning, Development, Reforms and Special Initiatives Asad Umar promised Saturday. Addressing a press conference today, the Planning Minister said that the Petroleum Division will increase its previous supply of 190 standard cubic feet gas to 290 cubic feet. “This means that an added 100 standard cubic feet of gas will be provided to K-Electric every day,” the minister explained. The units of the company near Bin Qasim will be run on furnace oil within a few days and the supply of oil has been increased by the division. Umar clarified that the development does not imply that the Petroleum Division was at fault. “For that we have a separate forum, NEPRA, which will decide who was actually at fault,” he said. He added that NEPRA will issue report on unannounced loadshedding in Karachi within 3 to 4 days and government will implement its decision. Their government’s aim today was to decide how to end unscheduled and uninformed load-shedding. “After these decisions, from tomorrow onward, Karachi will be free of load-shedding,” the minister said, adding that the electricity supply will be increased by 70%. Umar said next year, before summer 2021, additional electricity of 550 megawatts will be generated. In the summer of 2022, 800 megawatts more will be provided to the city. “So in total, by 2022, 1,350 megawatts of electricity will be increased in the megapolis,” he said, adding that the cabinet committee on energy has already decided this. The minister said that although K-Electric has been privatised, Karachi, however, has not been privatised. The federal government will always work for the residents of the city, he assured.  Asad Umar added that before the summer of 2021, Karachi will have additional power of 550 MW and after 2 years the additional power supply to Karachi will be at 1350 MW. NNI Earlier, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) held a public hearing on prolonged load shedding and overbilling by K-Electric in Karachi via video link. Moonis Alvi, the chief executive officer of the city’s sole power distributor, had told the power regulator (NEPRA) that load shedding won’t end any time soon. He blamed a shortage of furnace oil and gas for increased load shedding in the metropolis. He had said the power company faced a shortfall as electricity demand has risen to 3,300 megawatts while total production stands at 2,500 megawatts. He added the power distributor is trying to tackle the power issue. Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Firdous Shamim Naqvi had questioned why didn’t K-Electric stock furnace oil to cover a month. It’s advance preparations to tackle any such situation would have saved citizens a lot of suffering, he added. He said Nepra has failed to tackle the issue.