BAHAWALPUR/SIALKOT/
BAHAWALNAGAR/BHAKKAR
Up to 22-hour unscheduled loadshedding of electricity here is badly affecting the work of small and big sized industrial units, traders and studies of the students.
In Bahawalpur, loadshedding periods have increased to 18 hours, making the people’s lives miserable amid the scorching hot weather and severe water shortage.
Unscheduled loadshedding has reached to 18 hours and water scarcity is also being witnessed in several areas. With loadshedding of several hours, temperature risen up to 48 degree celsius which has made the life of people very difficult.
Citizens Zulfiqar, Haji Rasheed, Khaleel Ahmad, Zeeshan, Muhammad Azam and Luqman demanded that the district administration and Mepco should stop unscheduled loadshedding which is destroying their businesses. Meanwhile, Anjuman Tajraan blocked Yazman road against the worst loadshedding and staged a sit-in on the road against the unscheduled loadshedding of 18 hours for several hours.
Anjuman Tajraan President Asif Shah and other said that their markets had been facing electricity suspension for the last one week due to which their businesses are about to destroy and water is being scarce in their homes. They asked why they are being punished with unscheduled loadshedding.
They said that because of destruction of their businesses, they are facing starvation. They dispersed after the authorities assured them of early steps to resolve the issue.
Likewise, students of Islamia University hostel staged a protest against the worst unscheduled loadshedding on the University Chowk Bahawalpur. The students staged a protest against the worst unscheduled loadshedding. They said due to the loadshedding their studies are affected badly and due to the non-availability of the electricity drinkable water in hostel is also unavailable.
They demanded that Vice Chancellor of Islamia University should make arrangements of generators in Islamia University Hostel to overcome the electricity problem so that they can continue their education in better manner. The VC said that generators will soon be arranged for the hostel.
On one hand, electricity has made the life of people a hell but alongside this ice prices are exceeding significantly, and it is being sold a tthe price of 15 to 20 rupees per kg which is quite a steep price for a working class. People are forced to buy ice as the refrigerators are unable to produce ice due to the loadshedding.
Civil Society also condemned the worst unscheduled loadshedding and demanded higher early solution to the issue. District Coordination Officer Imran Sikandar Baloch said that unscheduled loadshedding should be avoided. He expressed these thoughts in an emergency loadmanagement committee meeting in DCO office here in Bahawalpur.
It has been told in the meeting that according to schedule, eight-hour loadshedding be carried out in urban areas while in rural areas 12 to 14 hours of loadshedding will be done. It has also been said in the meeting that due to the unscheduled loadshedding people are faced with severe problems. The DCO added that unscheduled loadshedding will be controlled soon.
He directed the local XEN to take immediate action on the information of out of order transformers and change or repair them immediately so that provision of electricity can be made continuous. He also directed for the use of air-conditioners after 11:00am in Government offices and thermostat should be set on 26 degree.
He directed that public places, parks and offices should use minimum street lights while use of floodlights should be completely avoided so that electricity can be saved. Loadsheding in Sialkot had rendered the hundreds of labourers and industrial workers of about 6,000 industrial units jobless. Some leading industrialists and exporters including Muhammad Aslam, Abid Hussain Mehdi, Ejaz Ahmed Hashmi, Maqsud Ahmed, Bashir Ahmed Naz, Shahid Nadeem Mughal, Mian Muhammad Anwar and Khalid Mehmood said that the Sialkot industries were suffering a great financial loss due to daily loadshedding.
They said that the energy crisis was aggregating day by day due to which the industries have been suffering heavy financial loss daily, besides. They said that the production in factories of Sialkot’s all the export oriented industries has been halted due to power loadshedding.  “The industries are facing up to 22 hours daily loadshedding of electricity due to which the production was badly halted and the Sialkot based SMEs are unable to adopt the alternative ways for getting electricity. Industries are suffering great financial loss of millions of rupees daily, as the Sialkot exporters are unable to ensure the timely dispatch of their export consignments to their foreign destinations,” they said.
The industrialists said due to this critical situation the Sialkot exporters and industrialists were very perturbed, as their foreign buyers were cancelling their orders placed towards Sialkot business community. They said that the foreign buyers were also diverting their business from Sialkot-Pakistan to China, India, Taiwan, Thailand and other countries. They feared that hundreds of daily wagers would be terminated from their jobs from Sialkot factories, as there was no work due to unavailability of electricity.
In Bahawalnagar, lawyers observed complete strike against prolonged outages in the district. They boycotted courts on the call of District Bar Association of Bahawalnagar. They also took out a rally to mark their protest against unscheduled outages. The rally started from the courts premises and concluded at DCO Office. the Protesters chanted slogans  against the authorities.
On the occasion, DBA President Masood Rasheed Joya, Secretary-General Ali Hasan and other lawyers expressed that normal life has been paralysed due to prolong power cuts, while people are forced to spend sleepless nights, in scorching summer due to unscheduled and prolonged loadshedding.
In Bhakkar, the local residents are suffering unscheduled and prolonged loadshedding across the district like other parts of the country. The general condition of the area is miserable as the people are also facing shortage of water in homes as mosques. Besides, Ice-factories have stopped producing ice and therefore the people have been deprived of cold water. The housewives, kids, students, peasants, labourers all are badly affected by the electricity outages.
Meanwhile, the people are under loadshedding stress and demand that at least a proper schedule of loadshedding be announced and strictly followed so that the people may set their tasks accordingly.