By Sardar Khan Niazi
It is welcome news that Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has encouraged the fast implementation of solar projects in the country by immediately removing all the impediments to the import of solar panels and other parts to avoid importing costly fuels.
He has already given permission to proceed with the execution of a 10,000-megawatt solar energy project. We also need to improve the management and regulation of the electricity sector.
Rampant inflation, a falling rupee, and severely low foreign exchange reserves already hobble the economy, with the power cut piling extra pressure on small businesses.
Since the beginning of summer, our electricity is down many times a day. Temperatures have begun to soar and unscheduled load shedding has increased, making our lives miserable.
We have come a long way since the days of continuous load shedding. Now, with so many people working online, or remotely, and almost all corporate jobs and graduate-level education requiring the internet and electricity, we cannot settle for anything less than uninterrupted electricity.
The rise in global oil prices, devaluation of the Pakistani rupee, and the domestic political and economic crisis in Pakistan are propelling the state towards becoming energy insecure.
Is Pakistan’s power system complex? Our dear homeland has god-gifted resources and is the seventh atomic power of the world but unfortunately, due to bad governance and lack of political management, Pakistan has been suffering hugely with load shedding.
Pakistan is an atomic power but still not producing atomic energy on a vast scale, also we have a land of rivers but not utilizing them to produce hydro energy. Even though we have big resources of coal and gas but still not producing thermal energy.
In Pakistan, the weather is mostly sunny throughout the year and from 365 days almost more than 250 days are sunny but still, there is no use of solar energy to produce electricity. In short, the government is not taking the right measures and means to supply electricity.
The problem of electricity is not new, but it has become more acute in recent years. The demand for electricity has increased due to population growth and economic development, but the supply has not kept up. It seems the infrastructure for generating, transmitting, and distributing electricity is outdated and inadequate.
Localized power cuts and load shedding are daily occurrences in Pakistan, and hospitals, factories, and government institutions are often kept running by private generators. But the machines are beyond the means of most citizens and small businesses.
Hundreds of water pumps go also offline during the power cut, heaping more problems on the people of Pakistan. Schools mostly continue either in the dark or using battery-powered lighting.
People still remember a massive power breakdown across Pakistan in January this year that left most of the country’s 220 million people without electricity and caused tens of millions of dollars in industry losses.
Pakistan textile industry — Pakistan’s largest exporter and a crucial booster of foreign exchange reserves — had losses of $70 million. Around 90% of factories remained shut down, with natural gas supplies too irregular to stand in.
Each time there is a power cut it is difficult to restart the mill from scratch, which takes up a lot of time and resources. Mill cannot pick up from where it stopped. It cannot use again all that thread that is in the middle of being dyed and treated, et cetera. Therefore, it faces massive losses.
The problem of electricity is a serious issue that requires immediate attention. We cannot afford to ignore it any longer. Our leaders and policymakers must take bold action to address this problem and ensure that our country has access to reliable and affordable electricity.
