Energy and Power Shortage in Pakistan

 Pakistan is a developing state which is going through various problems and issues. These issues are from various origins having long lasting impact on the stability of the economy and the goodwill of country. The problems are being divided in to several heads amongst which one of the very important head is the Social problems of Pakistan.

Energy Crisis-Loadshedding

Energy crisis are one of the most significant and crucial factors which are hindering the economic growth of Pakistan. And instead of the improvement the situation is getting worse which is becoming a threat for the economic stability of the state. It is being the common practice to observe 12 hours of load shedding on daily basis for both domestic and commercial areas of Pakistan. In such conditions the country cannot improve their productivity, rather than improving they are unable to retain what they have achieved so far. Low productivity and the shutting down of industries are having an adverse effect on the GDP of the state as it is significantly declining. The government has taken several actions which have done no good for the respective cause. Millions of Dollars are being spent on the import of power generators on rental basis has made conditions worse. Still the short fall is about 7000 megawatt.

The electricity produced from the IPPs is more expensive than ever which has made an additional burden on the earning of a normal citizen. Large industries can afford the purchase and usage of the power generators to cope up with the unavailability of the power but for medium size and as well as the small industries it is just impossible for them to adopt this method and so the only way which is left for them is to shut down their industries and businesses. This shutting of the industries is causing huge harm on the country’s economic condition as such shutting down leave thousands of people unemployed and ultimately increases the unemployment ratio of the country. The orders which are being allocated to the industries from the foreign customers and clients are also kept un-fulfilled due to the shortage of the power supply. This makes the clients change their vendors and shifting them from Pakistan to the other countries where such problems does not persist. This is taking the business opportunities out from the country.The RPPs Policy was a total failure and all the contracts were Recinded henceforthwith by the Supreme court of pakistan, which caused Billions of Rupees in waste to the Ministry of Water & power and produced nothing .Due to this critical situation of the Power Sector Pakistan, 

many of the national producers have shifted their production plants in the neighboring countries like in Bangladesh, Iran and China where they are bearing less production cost as compared to the cost they were bearing in Pakistan. This is also breaking the backbone of our economy as we are losing job opportunities as well as source of income for the country. According to the WAPDA & PEPCO, the production of the electricity is 13000 Megawatt while the consumption is of 20,000 Megawatt, so the deficit of 7000 megawatt is causing the load shedding. The shortage of Oil, Gas and Electricity is causing harm to the national interest and economy of Pakistan and if these problems and challenges are not met on the priority basis; Pakistan’s economy can be in great danger of being destroyed.

Effects of severe load shedding

Regardless any interest in the subject I have felt it most strongly over the past few days particularly at the time I am reading something or skim through pages of a newspaper that my attention starts to drift after two or three minutes and get caught up in the issue of load-shedding. May be due to the reason that the issue has become an order of the day and it has been put into background.What may be the rationale behind this major shift but I have come to the conclusion that all powers have put down their arms in front of powerful load-shedding after miserably failed to control the menace. The politicians have become tired of making promises and announcing deadlines for ending load-shedding because they are not Technocrats and do not know how Electricity can be Generated ? The media has got fed up by giving coverage to the problem and the reporters are reluctant to write about the topic anymore, because all produce Technical Reports/Data, which can not Generate Electricity. And as far as the common people are concerned they are also ignorant of the Technical Know How and are fed up with the Loadshedding, they have become hopeless against the ever increasing crisis in the country and are now on lookout with simmering discontent for some miracle to happen to take them out of the tricky problems.I am not exaggerating, I have noticed now-a-days that the severe power crisis has hit the country with worst load-shedding everywhere including homes, markets, hospitals, offices, educational institutions, factories, mills and industries, the wheel of all come to a standstill without electricity. The people are crying their heart out before the Government and WAPDA, Ministry of water & power authorities Islamabad against the prolonging menace, whereas it seems that nobody is ready to duly recognize the problem and to take up the matter with the Government with a Consistent Power & Energy Policy through serious efforts to help it resolve in the best interests of the people, but actually speaking, it has become a Power Politics among the politicians and every one is putting blames on the Technocrats, rather than taking responsibility of their own Ministry, which has failed to resovle the Issue with a permanent and consistent policy. This will result in run out of the Technical Masses and Middle Classes. and Corruption and Mismanagement shall rule  country.Unsurprisingly, unscheduled load-shedding and frequent power outages have reached an alarming extent and taking its toll on lives of the people with more accelerated pace than any other time. The massive blackouts have affected the people in their domestic as well as commercial lives because of the fact that the electricity has become an urgent need for the very survival and everything is directly or indirectly linked with it. Hence the situation is turning into a nightmare for the people to live without electricity in this age where one cannot even think of living devoid power being a basic need for sustainable life.Indeed, all the efforts directed towards reducing load-shedding have come to nothing and badly failed to reduce the problem despite various measures including two weekly holidays and other saving methods. Even now in this freezing season where one would not imagine such a condition of electricity as a past experience, the country is confronted with devastating load-shedding and the frequent power outages are still going on unabatedly with no significant as well as result oriented efforts being made to tackle the situation, even its schedule could not be provided to people so far. That’s why we see that the country is fastly moving towards darkness.As a result, the people have developed a feared concentration due to which they cannot strike a balance in their lives. They cannot schedule their daily transactions due the unannounced load-shedding and frequent power outages. The students feared they would not be able to complete their study assignments on time and thus have disturbed studies. The employees feared they would not be on time to office or workplaces in case they got up late due to disturbed sleep at night particularly in scorching heat. Similarly they feared that they would not be ready for duty at morning on time especially in winter season, again by the same problem. Likewise the people, who mostly spent their leisure time by watching TV or use computer as an escape from harsh realities of life, have disturbed entertainment. In short the situation has disturbed people in every sphere of activity.However, the most affected are the common poor people who have to rely on power for their very living, have been pushed into countless problems. The massive power crises affect these people not only in their domestic lives but also result in massive cut-offs of job opportunities for them. As some of them who run tailoring shops or other small businesses are forced to shut down their small running businesses while many of the laborers working with them or in other industries lose jobs opportunities. As such the living standard of these people is at stake because of increasing trade deficit, high inflation, and unemployment. Above all, the number of people living below the poverty line is increasing due to unemployment and inflation, both of which are by products of energy crisis.

Role of Government

Unfortunately making policies has never been our plight, it is in fact the lack of implementation due to which every government miserably fails to achieve the desired objectives and thus the wheel of crisis keeps moving on. If governments had taken prompt steps in light of promises made with the people at the time of elections and had initiated some small projects of importance, there would have been no crisis today and we would not have to face such massive blackouts. Anyhow better let the past be buried down and think ahead the ways that may ultimately lead to possible solution of our problems.The Government should Formule a Consistent Power policy and put-up before the Parliament as a National Issue and get its Approval for 20 Years, so that no party in power after Election may change it till the end of this Catastrophic and severe Crisis of loadshedding.Fortunately, Pakistan is rich with a lot of natural resources that could end our reliance on other countries. However, the same would need proper utilization with indigenous resources to save us billions of dollars spent in foreign exchange. Hence we still have best options from our natural resources including the Thar Coal Project that could end the power crisis forever if developed with native expertise with the help from our all weathered friend China. As such the same could save us from heavy expenditures spent on import of expensive Refined Furnace Oil. Now it must be realized that nothing can be achieved without sincere efforts on the part of Government. We should also realize that the Government cannot resolve our problems without our support as it cannot generate funds on its own to help us. For which we would have to come forward and help the Government in its campaigns launched against illegal theft, recovery of arrears and also to pay our bills regularly on time.Solving the power issue is certainly a difficult task and needs a lot of research and planning considering the availability of resources and fund. However, it is best to utilize what is readily available to resolve the problem in the best interests of people by keeping in view the gravity of the situation.

Role of Media

“Media is the most powerful tool of communication. It helps promoting the right things on right time. It gives a real exposure to the mass audience about what is right or wrong. Even though media is linked with spreading fake news like a fire, but on the safe side, it helps a lot to inform us about the realities as well.“The world is moving towards progress in every walk of life. But when we look towards societies, it feels as if some thing is still missing. Money, power, lust, etc., is the wish of every human being to attain. But we can’t deny this fact that we all are bounded with loads of social problems, which are hard nuts to crack. Social issues are matters which directly or indirectly affect many or all members of a society and are considered to be problems, controversies related to moral values, or both. Social issues include poverty, violence, corruption, bribery, suppression of human rights, discrimination, and crime, killing in the name of honor, etc.“Media has a constructive role to play for the society. Today News Channels and even some Newspapers are mouthpiece of some social issues, which helps us to estimate the realities of lives. Media has played an important role in order to focus on the social issues in almost every era. It is the fact that in most of the eras, media were not being given free and fair chances to explore the issues of society more openly than it is being given now; but we can’t deny this fact that the issues were always raised in order to provide justice to the people. Pakistani Media has expanded it’s chain during this era, and many cases and issues were brought under one umbrella, which showcase us that even today, we are bounded in the barriers of loads of problems and issues, which is to be sought out. Now, the time has arrived, when we need to re-think about our attitudes towards society.Role of media in every country is very much significant and crucial because it is the one who is responsible to create good image or even destroy the created image in the country as well as even millions of its respondents outside the country. When we talk about the country like Pakistan than we should not forget the role of media in its downfall and its negative image which is being created all over the globe, according to me media should be very much liberal but still it should not be so much liberal and free that it should make fun of significant and critical personalities and names of the country.

Pakistani Media’s role on exposing loadshedding

The role of media in Pakistan is very much negative as they are just running in to the competition and not for the sake of the nation; they are very much less patriotic and nationalist because they have the aim for the success of their particular organization and not the success of the nation. This competition has dented the image of Pakistan in the entire world as we have destroyed the fame, respect and dignity in the entire globe just because of the unlimited freedom of media and liberalization. There is no doubt that media should be liberal and should have the right to say or to show anything but one thing should be kept in mind that they should not affect the national interest as well as the national interest and the national dignity of the state.According to me, the media in Pakistan should play a role that should be helpful in the cause of the reviving the lost respect and dignity. The media should be fair and should show what is real but instead of making fun of the political leaders or even the head of the states they should be carrying out such programs which should be eye opening and realistic and instead of fun making they should play their key role in the upbringing of the national interest as well as the for the sake of national cause. Media should create an example in the entire world that the image of Pakistan which is being created in the entire world is just false and is just an illusion created by the world mafia against the Muslim countries especially against the Pakistan. So if Pakistan has to regain the respect and the dignity than the media of Pakistan has to fill the gap and will have to step forward and to take up the responsibility for this respective cause.Some of the channels and media anchors are working for particular political parties. For instance, the real issues in Pakistan are socio-economic, the terrible poverty in which about 80% of our people are living, the massive unemployment, unbearable load-shedding, the abnormal price rise, lack of medical care, education, the ruin of institutions, breakage of fiber of the society, unaffordable higher education, backward social practices like honor killing and caste oppression, religious fundamentalism and so on never highlighted during the last regime. Instead of devoting most of its coverage to these vital issues the media focused on non issues like film stars, fashion parades, individual rape and killing cases, repeated entertainment programs and talk shows etc. Does a hungry or unemployed man wanted entertainment or food and a job?

Media has a significant role to play in the country’s success. Its duty is to show the truth but it should not always portray the negative aspects of the country. Qualitative, independent media reporting can play an important role in pressuring the government to act in the public interest. It can change opinions because it has access to people and this gives it a lot of strength. This strength can either be used constructively by educating the people or it can be used destructively by misleading the innocent people; could spoil everything by diverting the attention of people from important issues towards insignificant issues. Power of the media can transform the whole society or it can be used as a ‘weapon of mass destruction. The media in Pakistan is playing negatively. It should have been the mirror of society it is operating in but our media has become the mirror of U.S, India, and the West. Working on American agenda, for few dollars, corrupt anchors and TV channels are propagating the negative image of country in front of outer world.

Suggesstions for solving Pakistan’s energy crisis

Short-term measures;

COAL:

Estimated Thar coal reserves are around 850 Trillion Cubic feet, which are equal to 400 Barrel of furnace oil, Equal to the oil reserves of SAUDIA ARABIA, which can generate Electricity for almost forty years.

Ramp up coal mining and production, and convert existing thermal power plants to use coal as fuel.

Coal contributes to less than 1% of Pakistan’s generation, even though the Thar mines contain the world’s third-largest coal reserves. By comparison, coal contributes about 40% of total energy generation globally. Even ‘green’ countries like Germany are in the process of installing coal-powered plants. In generating electricity, coal clearly remains the choice of first resort.Pakistan may install imported coal power plants initially, and after expoliotation of THAR coal, we may Erect the coal power plants designed on our own Thar coal.

Circular debt:

Pakistan has a circular debt in the electricity generation and distribution chain worth $5 billion, simply because the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority has proven ineffective in monitoring generators and utilities. In the West, regulatory commissions are led by energy specialists. Fixed tenures, autonomy from political interference, as well as empowerment to punish generation and distribution companies minimise chances of gaming of the system.

A strong regulator checks and balances; a weak one allows governments to run rampant. They then set tariffs as they see fit, send linemen to collect kickbacks from electricity thieves and give away electricity freebies to vote banks. Utilities go bankrupt, their slate is wiped clean, the debt re-emerges, and round and round we go.

The government must create a cadre of energy specialists who are sent to the West to study regulatory mechanisms. When they return to Pakistan, they must be allowed to set up regulatory commissions that function without fear or favour. Civil service generalists will want to grab the opportunity of overseas junkets, but the government should choose young and idealistic people with little baggage. And it should pay them handsomely: the benefits accrued will far outweigh their salaries.

Power distribution:

Decouple agricultural and consumer supply networks in rural areas from each other, otherwise households benefit unfairly from the less-expensive agricultural tariffs. Gujarat in India has bifurcated the two networks to increase electricity revenues substantively. The model should be easily replicable in Pakistan.

Import of fuel:

The Iran-Pakistan (IP) Gas Pipeline is a no-brainer. Sure, the US will exert political and economic pressure, but what if one of these days the international community reaches an accord with Iran? Won’t the policymakers in Pakistan then have egg on their face if they ditch the IP now? Other than the US’ interests, India too frets over the security situation in Balochistan. But if Pakistan’s establishment can secure the country’s nuclear arsenal, surely it can protect another critical asset.

The IP pipeline becoming the Iran-Pakistan-India-Bangladesh pipeline would be a boon for the entire region. Natural gas, which has extensive use in power generation, transportation and manufacturing, can also be imported from abroad. The Indian ambassador to the US recently urged America, which is sitting on a glut of natural gas, to allow its export. In case America agrees, Pakistan should also be ready to benefit from the decision.

Long-term measures Shale gas:

Shale gas is a form of natural gas that is obtained from sedimentary rock through a process called hydraulic fracturing. The US is witnessing a boom in shale gas production, and Pakistan too has substantial proven shale gas deposits. The technology is field-tested and easily acquired; there is no reason to delay shale gas exploration.

Smart metering:

Install smart meters to curb electricity theft. Losses due to outright theft and unpaid bills approach nearly half of all electricity generated in Pakistan. What business can ever run like this?

At their current price of Rs10,000 apiece, smart meters can return the investment made in them in about a year. Sweden, which has very minor electricity theft as compared to Pakistan, gains a third of a percent in annual GDP from smart meters. On the other hand, the energy crisis costs Pakistan about four percent of its GDP – smart meters alone can make a major difference.

Slum dwellers steal power through illegal connections, but they are less culpable than the bourgeoisie who payoff meter readers to record lower readings or refuse to pay bills altogether. Naples, Italy’s third-largest city with a population of around a million, had a similar problem, but smart meters have been effective in curbing theft and tampering with meters and supply lines.

There is no magic wand that the government can use to resolve the energy crisis. Decisions taken today will make an impact a couple of years later. But if the government does not bite the bullet now, then it might as well be waiting for nothing.If the Government failed to plan now, it Plan to Fail and Loadshedding will never end in the country, destroying our Economy and social life, putting the Nation in the poorest countries of the world.