Punjab Forum for political and economic rights of Punjab has urged the government to fix power crisis because unjust distribution of energy resources is creating a deep sense of deprivation among the people of Punjab which may take the country towards civil war.
The policy of penalising Punjab continues unabated to destroy peaceful as well as enabling business environment which can take an ugly turn any time, it said. President Punjab Forum Baig Raj, said on Wednesday that distribution of energy on political basis has closed down industry and left millions jobless which has made it a matter of life and death for the people.
He said the people have a right to protest against the long gas and electricity outages. This national problems can easily be solved by construction of Kalabagh dam, the cheapest, rapid and most effective way to attain energy security. Raj said that energy crisis calls for out of the box solutions and consensus on issues of national importance but the government has been hell bent on employing ad hoc measures for past four years further plunging the country into deep crisis.
These measures have left the country with only one-third of the installed power production capacity and a shortfall of 8,000MW, he said adding that the circular debt issue might force 10 IPPs to stop production within days Anti-Punjab lobbies are impeding construction of Kalabagh dam and Iran-Pakistan gas pipeline at the behest of foreign powers, which amounts to strangulating the economy, he said.
People in Punjab have started asking questions about misuse and mismanagement of allocated resources due to apathy of rulers which has pushed millions below the poverty line, he said. Baig Raj requested the Chief Justice Iftikhar Muhammad Chaudhry to take suo moto notice of the unjust distribution of gas and electricity.