Peshawar: Khyber Pakhtunkhwa Chief Minister Ali Amin Gandapur on Friday warned the Shehbaz Sharif-led federal government that it may go out of business if the load is not reduced for a maximum of 12 hours.
With temperatures rising across the country as climate change takes its toll, power outages have been frequent and prolonged in some areas, sparking protests.
As power supply is a problem for the federal government, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) lawmakers raided power plants and restored power in several areas.
Gandapur fire brigade PTI leaders took steps on the third day of Eid by following their party MPs.
When the CM chaired today’s load shedding meeting, he was briefed about power cuts, restoration of power distribution companies and other situations related to the power sector.
In the briefing, the Prime Minister informed that with the support of the KP government, 1 billion dollars was returned within a month, and security was provided to the employees and facilities of the Peshawar Electricity Supply Company (Pesco).
In the meeting, it was reported that the distribution company had promised that there would be no power cuts on Eid, but that commitment has not been fulfilled. 12-18 hours of loading is carried out in many places during the Eid al-Adha holiday.
Since May 1, there have been 81 protests against unannounced power cuts due to power outages, the Prime Minister said.
After the briefing, he said that the Gandapur State Government is fully cooperating to solve the electricity problem.
“..unfortunately the federal government did not fulfill its promises. There were also unannounced power cuts during Eid,” he said.
Gandapur said that even after the massive restoration, the power load continues, making people’s lives miserable.
Dumping is a collective problem and there is no reaction from the community.” CM Gandapur reiterated that power load for more than 12 hours is not acceptable under any circumstances.
He warned the Center that people could get out of control and said the federal government must take the matter seriously as the province is “cooperating fully”.
