TUESDAY JUNE 19: Power minister flays Punjab chief minister for 'staging' power riots: 'loadshedding to end within three months'

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Water and Power, Ahmad Mukhtar announced on Monday that electricity loadshedding would be reduced within three months. At the same time, he accused Punjab government of its involvement in destruction of public assets. Addressing his first-ever press conference after replacing Naveed Qamar, he did not give any firm deadline for ending unscheduled loadshedding.
According to the minister, government has finalised its strategy to end unscheduled loadshedding, which implies that the plan of 8 hours loadshedding in urban areas and 12 hours in rural areas would be implemented. The minister also misstated about electricity demand which, insiders claim, is 19000MW as compared to the his (Minister) claims of 17500MW.
"Current power production stands at 10,500MW against the targeted generation of 13500MW," he added. Water inflows will improve in Tarbela dam which will add 1000MW hydle power to the national grid in a couple of days. Another claim he made was that the government will divert 105mmcfd gas earmarked for fertiliser sector to power plants. He said that 225 mmcfd had been diverted to power sector to generate 1100MW additional power. Power distribution companies (Discos) have also given a plan to provide Rs 1.3 billion daily from their recoveries of bills to generate 2500MW additional power. In addition, he said, 1200 metric tons of fuel to Hubco plant and 2500 metric tons of fuel to Muzaffargarh plant had been provided to generate more power.
In reply to a question, he said that the main reason behind loadshedding is the collapse of system due to fuel shortage, adding that measures are being taken to end unscheduled loadshedding. He also admitted that recent power crisis emerged due to pressure on power feeders to get more supply. Answering another question, he said the federal government will even register a case against Chief Minister Punjab Shahbaz Sharif if he is found among protestors destroying public assets.
In reply to another question, he said that it is the prerogative of President and the prime minister to get uninterrupted power supply and no one should take it as a biased opinion. Finance Ministry on Monday also released Rs 9 billion for injection into energy sector to arrange fuel for power generation, an ad hoc arrangement to run the system. The minister said that Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) was to receive 378 billion dues from private and public departments, including a huge amount of Rs 166 billion against powerful running defaulters.
"I have taken the portfolio of Water and Power Minister by choice and had requested President to give me this office as a challenge," he said adding that Punjab government had committed in meetings of Council of Common Interest (CCI) and energy conference to clear the arrears but it did not live up to its commitment.
"The Punjab government is to clear dues of Rs 15.6 billion while Sindh province is to pay Rs 51 billion," he said, adding that running defaulters were to pay Rs 166 billion to Pepco. "We are working to handle the defaulters," he said, adding that total amount of circular debt was Rs 398 billion. Responding to a question relating to heavy payment by Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) to Pepco, he said that it was a political issue.
"We are facing fire from one side (Punjab) and cannot afford it from other side (Sindh)," he added. "I believe that Punjab government is behind riots and protests," he said. The Minister admitted that decisions taken at energy conference were not implemented by provinces. "We can save 2000MW to 2500MW power by using energy savers," he said. A senior official of power ministry said that the country had 20,000MW installed capacity and maximum 15800MW power could be generated if plants operate at full capacity. The country can produce 6250MW hydropower, 2500MW through Gencos, 7000MW from IPPs and 600MW from nuclear source.