Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif has once again blamed the previous Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) government for load shedding in the country. The prime minister wrote on Twitter that the PTI government neither purchased fuel in time nor repaired power plants. He said that costly power generation through inefficient power plants is costing the people Rs100 billion a month. Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) supremo Nawaz Sharif had ended the worst load shedding in five years during his government, he recalled. The prime minister said that his government was making efforts to fix the problem. “Mian Nawaz Sharif’s government ended the worst load-shedding in 5 years.
PTI government neither purchased fuel in time nor repaired power plants. Hence the current load-shedding. Costly power generation through inefficient plants is costing the people Rs.100 billion/month. We are fixing it,” he tweeted. On Sunday, the PM lashed out at the PTI government for not taking timely measures. Separately, Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) leader Musaddiq Malik Monday said that instead of paying heed to “baseless propaganda” being propagated by the PTI about a “foreign conspiracy”, the public should question it about hatching an “internal conspiracy” against Pakistan by obstructing the path of development. Addressing a news conference in Islamabad, he said that due to the incompetency of the previous government, 11,000MW -” added by the PML-N-led government in 2013″ – had been “cut-off”.
Resultantly, people are facing intense load shedding in the holy month of Ramazan, he said. The senator said that more than 5,000 megawatts (MW) were unavailable because the previous government did not buy oil and gas. “Additional 4,000MW is unavailable because the PTI government never repaired power plants,” he added. Moreover, he alleged that the cost of electricity increased due to PTI’s “incompetency”. “In 2018, power plants were producing electricity at Rs9.60 per unit and now the per-unit rate is Rs16.20,” the senator added.
Hot weather predicted
Meanwhile, the Meteorological Office on Monday predicted hot weather across the country. “Owing to the high pressure in the upper atmosphere, the day temperatures are likely to increase gradually in most parts of the country,” said the Met Office, adding that the prevailing very hot and dry weather may cause stress on water reservoirs. It also advised the public to avoid unnecessary exposure to direct sunlight.
