Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has vowed to end load-shedding across Pakistan in the next five days as an ‘Eid gift’ for the nation, directing the authorities concerned to expedite efforts in this regard.
He issued this statement while speaking to ministers in an emergency meeting held today (Tuesday). The prime minister directed the resolution of this power crisis before the onset of hot summers.
The meeting, called to resolve the continuing power crisis in Pakistan, was presided over by the PM in Islamabad. Sharif claimed that 20 of the 27 power plants that had remained shut all of last year had been reinstated and were working again.
He revealed that the previous government had not purchased fuel for the generators for the past 4 years, which had caused their condition to deteriorate, worsening the energy crisis. However, his government had managed to procure the fuel within two weeks and was working on increasing the energy generation capacity of the generators.
The meeting was informed that the total energy generation in the country was around 18,500 megawatts, and the shortfall in energy is around 500-2000 megawatts.
Sharif also took note of the complaints against artificial diesel shortages during crop harvesting and directed authorities to probe into the matter. Also on the agenda were plans to lessen the losses incurred by power distribution companies.
