The unannounced and unscheduled electricity loadshedding in wake of power shortfall in the country has made the life and daily routine of people miserable in twin cities of Rawalpindi and Islamabad. The residents have been facing the long hours of loadshedding for the last one-week after the concerned authorities have enhanced duration of loadshedding without prior notice.
The entire residential sectors of the Federal Capital and almost all localities of Rawalpindi have been hit hard by the loadshedding. According to official sources, the power shortfall in the country is between 5,000 MW to 6,000 MW, while the demand is about 18,000 MW. However, no immediate relief measures are being taken to redress this issue.
Bilal Khalid, a resident of Sector I-10 which is experiencing unprecedented loadshedding of more than 10 hours in 24 hours informed this scribe that he and his children have spent several sleepless nights owing to loadshedding especially at the midnight. Some government and private employees have also complained that they could not reach their offices timely owing to loadshedding in the morning.
The authorities switched off the electricity for two hours from 10.00 pm to 00.00 midnight and again it was loadshedding to two consecutive hours from 6.30 am to 8.30 am Another resident complained that the loadshedding is also causing severe shortage in the water supply to the area.
The rural of the Federal Capital including Ghauri Town Phase-I, II and adjacent areas are also facing long hours of unscheduled electricity loadshedding. The residents were without electricity from 2.00 pm to 5.00 pm, 7.00 pm to 11.00 pm and 1.15 am to 4.15 am and as a result they faced a lot of problems. Ghulam Abbass, a resident, said the concerned authorities are providing dengue virus to spread in the area as the people are using anti-mosquito electric devises to save them from this deadly virus.