Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco) is carrying out eight to 10 hours loadshedding in the urban areas of South Punjab, crippling routine life of the citizens. Prolonged outages are being observed in some places in the name of repair and maintenance.
Mepco' officials at the grid stations, seeking anonymity, said they have been ordered from the main grids to cut electricity after every hour or two hours. Around 30 percent of Multan remains without electricity in one click, an official source at Mepco confirmed.
He revealed that despite normal routine, the repair work is continuing in working days, which otherwise is being done during the holidays, especially on Sundays.
Mepco sources claimed that repair is just an excuse, as in reality there is a huge shortfall between the demand and supply of electricity.
They said that electricity in Gulgasht, Wilyatabad, Mumtazabad, Shah Rukn-e-Alam, New Multan, Masoom Shah Road,Chungi No. I Waqas Town, Amirabad, Hassanabad, Officers colony, Wahdat Colony Grid Station went off during 0300 to 0400 am, 0700 to 0800, 9m to 10am, during 12am to 1pm, during 3pm to 5pm, during 9pm to 10pm, during 12pm to 1am and during 3am to 4am on daily basis especially for the last four days.
They further said the company is conducting outages in other areas on rotational basis. The abrupt power tripping coupled with load shedding has reached even more than 10 hours in some areas, especially where Mepco's transmission system is old and overloaded. People of almost all localities have criticised Mepco for unscheduled load shedding, which has added to their problems especially when the exams of matriculation and ninth class students are underway.
In rural areas, the situation is even worse with 12 hours a day or more load shedding. This is happening mainly because of the massive diversion of gas to the industrial sector and CNG stations and non-availability of the required fuel for the powerhouses, Mepco sources added.
Meanwhile, according to Pakistan Electric Power Company, the shortfall in the national grid has touched 2,710MW. Currently, the country is getting hydropower generation of 3,454 MW, thermal generation of 2,420 MW, IPPs 5,390MW and rental 62MW.
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