Power load-shedding situation to improve by end of week: Kaira

Adviser on Kashmir Affairs and Gilgit-Baltistan Qamar Zaman Kaira said on Monday that an additional 2,000 megawatts were expected to enter the supply grid by the end of the week, which he said would reduce load-shedding significantly across the country, Aaj News reported.

"Inflow has improved in rivers and Tarbela [dam] is filling up better so it is expected that around 2,000MW of additional cheap electricity from hydel energy will enter the system by the week's end and reduce load-shedding," Kaira said while addressing a press conference in Islamabad with other federal ministers after a cabinet meeting on power issues.

Kaira said that the cabinet decided not to install any more power plants that rely on imported fuel. "Power plants that are operated on local fuel would be used for power generation in the future," he said.

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Criticising the PTI government for the existing power crisis, he said the outgoing government neither made timely decisions nor completed projects aptly.

"Power production plants can't be installed immediately and it's not possible to do an immediate increase in electricity," he stated.

The minister said that the situation was so bad that the existing demand could not be fulfilled even if the government made all power plants operational.

"The responsibility for this is not on the current government," he said, adding: "This crisis did not appear in two months."

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"This is the negligence that Imran Khan's government [committed] by not setting up power production plants in his four years and not planning to cater for future demand."

Speaking on the occasion, Minister for Power Khurram Dastgir provided said that in the next few days, the Tarbela dam would start its full power production at 3,500MW.

"In those same days, we are also expecting that our K2 nuclear plant, which is being refueled, [will be operational] so its 1,100MW will enter the system and the whole nation can expect at Eid that great relief will be provided," Dastgir added.

He further said that the country's power situation would improve next year with the operationalisation of new power projects which were initiated by the PML-N government in its previous tenure.