Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz said on Saturday there is a surge in the demand for electricity as a result of the high growth and investment in the industrial sector and the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) should take necessary steps to bridge the gap between demand and supply to resolve the problems faced by the people of Karachi.
He was presiding over a meeting here at the Governor''s House held to review the power supply situation in Karachi. The prime minister said the government is working on making Karachi the business and commercial hub of the country. It is closely monitoring the power supply situation in the city to solve the problems faced by domestic and industrial consumers, he added.
He said the KESC urgently needs to improve its transmission system so it could be in a position to distribute additional power for which it is in the process of generating.
Shaukat Aziz directed that mobile transformers be introduced in Karachi as a backup support to tackle the problem of power shortage caused by failure in transmission lines. KESC Chief Executive and Managing Director Frank Sehersehmidt briefed the meeting about KESC''s plans to enhance its power generating capacity.
He said, at present, there is no shortfall in terms of power supply as the demand and supply of power are almost matching and the power breakdowns are mostly caused due to renovation activities and the construction work going on in most part of the city.
Frank said the KESC is working on a comprehensive plan to increase its power generation and distribution capacity. The plans being implemented will result in addition of 1000 megawatt additional power to the KESC system within a period of two years, he added.
He said that the company would spend Rs 22 billion during the next three years on expansion, renovation and rehabilitation of its facilities. He said as a result of steps being taken by KESC the power supply situation will considerably improve by April next year.
Federal Water and Power Minister Liaquat Jatoi informed the meeting that the federal government will provide necessary funds to the KESC under Physical Improvement Plan to enable it to ensure smooth power supply to Karachi.
Shaukat Aziz asked the KESC to set up more complaint centres, increase its interaction with community and public representatives, and also keep the public informed about its plans through media.
The meeting was attended among others, by Information and Broadcasting Minister Senator Muhammad Ali Durrani, Inter-Provincial Co-ordination Minister Salim Saifullah Khan, Water and Power Minister Liaquat Ali Jatoi, Ports and Shipping Minister Babar Khan Ghori, PM''s Special Assistant Commander Khalil-ur-Rahman and Minister of State for Petroleum and Natural Resources Naseer Mengal, City Nazim Syed Mustafa Kamal, Naib Nazim Nasreen Jalil.
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