The federal government may think over cancelling the contract of K-electric in case the company fails to comply with the term and conditions, said Parliamentary Sectary for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage, Mohsin Shah Nawaz Ranjha. He was speaking at the seminar on "Future Trends of Heat Waves: How to Cope?" organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute (SDPI) here Tuesday.
The Parliamentary Secretary said, the government had decided in January that it would not renew the contract of K-electric but to avoid any litigation, the company was given a second chance. He said the gross mismanagement is the root cause behind the failure of k-electric. On the fateful day, the total demand for electricity was 3100 megawatts, whereas, under the agreement K-electric should be able to generate and arrange about 3300 megawatts in total.
He was sure that if the government cancels contract of k-electric; may be the courts do not provide it relief. But, in this connection NEPRA, which is the regulatory authority is likely to issue a showcase notice, to the company. Earlier, Dr Fahad Saeed from his 'heat wave simulation model' quoted that in future there would be more heat waves, which would be more intense as well. Also, he said frequency of this extreme weather phenomenon is likely to be increased. He said, overall, there could be five degree increase in annual temperature.
The only way to handle the situation is to prepare and implement a coping plan. Dr Abid Suleri, Executive Director, SDPI in his special comments advocated better and broader safety nests for the poor. "Poor are more vulnerable to calamities like heat wave and floods and the governments in budgets, should have generous allocations for them," he said. Maha Kamal, in representation of the Energy Unit of the SDPI, held K-electric responsible for the disaster. She said, SDPI in its report "Post Privatisation Appraisal of KESC," some two years back, had pinpointed inefficiency in generation and distribution as the culprit. She said huge line losses and default on PSO payments are facts, too glaring to be ignored.
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