Islamabad Pakistan January 24 ANI Pakistan's acute energy crisis has triggered protests in the country. The media report says it has become a national issue and will be one of the focal points of the long march against the Imran Khan-led government, which is being led by the opposition parties from Karachi to Islamabad next month.
Pakistan is facing an unprecedented energy crisis. The long energy shortages are creating difficulties for the common household as well as hampering industrial output. The report said that this has impacted the world's exports as well.
The country is facing economic calamity because of the unprecedented power crisis, mismanagement and lack of recovery plan. The uneven and interrupted supply of gas, electricity and petroleum products is leading to a lot of discomfort among different provincial governments and the federal government of Islamabad.
Several cities in Pakistan are witnessing protests from people over natural gas shortage and extended power outages. Electricity is not available in Pakistan for several hours.
InsideOver pointed out that the power shortage in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa leaves people without electricity for 18 hours. People are hard to draw drinking water because of the low voltage when there is electricity. This has led to protests, and people especially women are blocking roads to vent their anger.
In Gilgit-Baltistan, too, people hit the streets in sub-zero temperatures due to prolonged power shortages and black-marketing of food supplies. Gilgit-Baltistan based Awami Action Committee AAC said it was a failure of the Pakistan State to provide basic facilities to people.
The Sindh government invoked a constitutional article and warned the Islamabad government of taking over the gas distribution system if locals are deprived of cooking fuel, which is mainly found in the wells in the province.
The province that produces over 23% of the total natural gas in the country is facing a situation where households are without gas to cook food, industries are shutting down because of a huge shortage and CNG stations are closed for months to come, according to a Sindh province energy minister Imtiaz Shaikh, who wrote to the Islamabad government.
Businesses are getting hurt too. Exports worth USD 250 million were lost in just a month due to fuel shortages which shut mills for 15 days, said Shahid Sattar, executive director of All Pakistan Textile Mills AssociationPakistan Textile Mills Association.
The energy ministry's inability to arrange supply is hurting the very future of Pakistan's exports and economy, according to InsideOver.
In the summer of 2021, the power shortage had reached 6,000 megawatts, leading to long-hour load-shedding across Pakistan.
In December 2021, Pakistan increased power tariffs by an additional Rs 4.74 per unit to earn additional revenue. The Khan government also increased petroleum prices.