Hardly a few seconds had passed after the interior minister credited the government for ending load shedding when the lights went out, creating an embarrassing situation for Ahsan Iqbal.  “The government has added 10,000mw to the national grid,” he said to attendees at an event. “In the 66 years of Pakistan’s history, only 1800mw were…

We’ve all heard how load shedding adversely affects businesses. No one would know that any better than Multan’s tailors.  According to details, tailors in Multan are not accepting orders from customers for stitching clothes because of load shedding. Tailors are accepting only limited orders and cannot take in the huge volume of clothes for stitching…

Power outages affected several parts of the country after high transmission lines of the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) tripped, triggering a shortfall exceeding 6,000 megawatts on Tuesday. The overnight power failure affected the entire country except Karachi. The ministry of water and power directed the people to consume electricity sparingly as all four Chashnupp…

People in Karachi suffered as a religious party blocked the main Sharae Faisal for over an hour. The Jamaat-e-Islami was protesting the water and power crises in the city. Party workers blocked the road at Malir 15. Karachi Transporters Ittehad also joined them. “We haven’t blocked any road,” said the party’s Karachi chief, Hafiz Naeemur…

KARACHI: Lawmakers debated in the dark when load shedding hit the Sindh Assembly, just a day after the prime minister had promised on a visit that the power crisis had been ended.  “It seems a bit cloudy,” said Speaker Agha Siraj Durrani. “Someone check out what the overall situation is.” Karachi was facing load shedding…

Reported by: Khizar Abbas MULTAN: Load shedding may be bad for business but a Falooda shop owner in Multan is not complaining as customers rush to his place to beat the heat because of load shedding.  “The heat is unbearable and because of load shedding, we need something to cool off,” says one customer. “Dakray…

KARACHI:  Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi announced that the tussle between Sui Southern Gas Company and K-Electric has come to an end. “SSGC will provide gas to K-Electric,” he announced in a press conference on Monday. “It will provide as much gas to K-Electric as is required by the power company.” “Karachi will have electricity…

KARACHI: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi arrived in Karachi on a daylong visit to attend a seminar on China-Pakistan Economic Corridor on Monday. PM Abbasi will also chair a special meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Energy today in connection with the deteriorating power crisis in the city. The committee will discuss one-point agenda regarding…

Report by: Usman Khan ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has taken notice of the prevailing power crisis in Karachi, Samaa reported. According to our correspondent, the PM has called a meeting of Cabinet Committee on Energy on April 23. The meeting will be held in Karachi. Sources said the meeting will take up the one…

As Karachi sizzles in 40 degrees and suffers frequent power cuts, Sindh CM Murad Ali Shah smells a conspiracy. Load-shedding in Karachi speaks of the Centre’s enmity with Sindh. “Sukkur, Larkana and my constituency, Sehwan, are facing 14-, 16- and 18-hour-long power cuts,” he said at a press conference Thursday. “What is it if not…

KARACHI: More than 1200 people were killed in 12 days three years ago during the heatwave. With temperatures rising, the question on everyone’s minds is–has the Sindh government made arrangements to ward off the searing heat in the coming months? Three years ago when the heatwave claimed more than 1200 lives in less than two…

ISLAMABAD: A pledge by Pakistan’s ruling party to end electricity outages ahead of a general election in mid-2018 is being undermined by the possibility of further delays in new power plants that run on General Electric’s flagship gas turbines. State-owned gas company Pakistan LNG has been diverting liquefied natural gas (LNG) shipments earmarked for the…

PML-N representative Uzma Bokhari defended the federal government’s performance over the past four-and-a-half years, stating that sincere attempts had been made to end the load shedding menace in the country.  “I’m very proud to say that we were able to live up to the claims we made about ending load shedding,” she said on SAMAA…

Karachi is suffering from protracted spans of power outages. Many areas of the metropolitan city are continually facing scheduled spans of load shedding every day. However, the spans of power outages have widened to 18 hours as power goes off with no prior announcement. When contacted, Sindh government imputes the blame to the federal government….

Many governments came and went since the 1980s and with them came the announcements of ending the load-shedding problem permanently. But three decades later, the problem remains unaddressed. Watch our special report on the history of load-shedding and the failed promises made by the successive governments to resolve it.

LAHORE: An elderly citizen lashed out at the government for not being able to solve electricity crisis in Pakistan.  Load shedding has made life difficult for Pakistanis as the heat refuses to let up. An elderly citizen spoke to SAMAA TV and lashed out at the government for its inability to end the crisis. “I’ve…

The top leadership of Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) made full-blown claims regarding the eradication of power crisis from the country. However, the country continues to be suffering from prolonged hours of load shedding as it did in 2013. All ‘solemn’ pledges by the PML-N evaporated into thin year. Members of the Parliament including the PTI’s…

ISLAMABAD: The PML-N government promised it would end rolling blackouts before it went home in June 2018. It broke its promise. In Lahore, power cuts last up to one-third of the day. “There are eight hours of power outages in the countryside,” said SAMAA’s bureau chief in Lahore, Ahmed Waleed. “In many areas of Lahore…

CNG stations will remain close from 8am Saturday for 24 hours across Sindh including Karachi. The decision has been made owing to the maintenance work. The gas stations have been closed at 8am today for 24 hours owing to maintenance work in progress on field and load management, according to Sui Southern Gas. The gas…

PHOTO: FILE We’ll end load shedding in two years. We’ll end load shedding in three years. My name won’t be Shehbaz Sharif if I don’t end load shedding. We hate to break it to him, but it seems like Mr Sharif may have to change his name—we’ve still got load shedding. As 40-degree weather struck…

The rise in protracted spans of load shedding have distressed the citizens of Karachi as the K-Electric appeared helpless to control the power crisis in the mega city amidst soaring temperatures.  Citizens took to roads in Kemari in protest against the prolonged power outages as power shortfall continues to widen. K-Electric spokesperson Sadia Dada said…