Islamabad: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif today expressed his resentment over power outages in Pakistan during Ramzan and ordered top officials to take “all steps” to address the issue that has provoked violent protests.
During a meeting, Sharif reprimanded Water and Power ministry secretary Younus Dagha over excessive power outages.
Dagha briefed Sharif about the surge in demand with the start of Ramzan which led to prolonged power shortages in several areas, triggering violent protests in some cities of north-western province of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa.
“The Prime Minister directed that all steps must be taken on urgent basis to address the situation so that the suffering of the people can be mitigated at the earliest,” according to a statement issued by the Prime Minister House.
Power outages of up to 20 hours were reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and some areas of Sindh province including its capital Karachi, triggering protests in several cities.
People were angry over power outages during Sehr and Iftar ?- the beginning and ending of fasts -? as the government had promised uninterrupted supply during these times.
“The Prime Minister also expressed resentment over power outages during Sehr and Iftar,” the statement said.
The Prime Minister was told that the outages could only be contained if the demand decreases.
The issue of power outages has been compounded by a sudden surge in temperature as several areas of Sindh today sizzled, with maximum temperature of 49 degrees recorded in Jacobabad.
Karachi recorded a high of 44 degrees while Sukkur sizzled at 45.
PTI
