Balochistan Point Voice of Nation
Quetta: Electricity crisis has deteriorated in the turbulent province of Balochistan. Apart from Quetta, rest of Balochistan is facing long hours of load shedding in the warm season of summer. District headquarters are getting 10 hours electricity daily, whereas Tehsil headquarters are getting 6 to 8 hours electricity in 24 hours. In case of villages, electricity is only provided 2 to 4 hours in a day.
Electricity crisis in Balochistan is more severe as compared to other provinces but it’s hardly reported in mainstream media of Pakistan. The backbone of Balochistan, agriculture sector, has been destroyed due to prolonged load shedding.
The electricity demand of Balochistan is 1650 Megawatt at the moment whereas the supply is restricted to 600 Megawatts only. One thing must be noted that the capacity of electrical transmission lines is 700 Megawatt in Balochistan. It means that even if surplus electricity is available in rest of the country, Balochistan can’t get more than 700 Megawatts of electricity.
Dadu-Khuzdar and Dera Ghazi Khan-Loralai transmission line projects were meant to increase the capacity of electrical system in Balochistan. Notwithstanding claims by Federal government the work on both these transmission lines is still incomplete. Dadu-Khuzdar transmission line has been partially completed and the electricity provided through it has low voltage which is destroying electronic appliances in Khuzdar and Kalat region.
Just like other spheres of governance, Dr. Malik led government of Balochistan has failed to pressurize Federal government to complete the transmission lines on time. Iran is willing to sell 1000 Megawatts electricity but the politicians and bureaucrats sitting in Islamabad are not interested to solve the electricity crisis in Balochistan.
Staff Reporter
Published in The Balochistan Point on July 25th, 2014
