Asad Umar to chair meeting to discuss Karachi's electricity problem

KARACHI: An important meeting to discuss Karachi’s electricity woes to be held on Saturday (today) at the Sindh Governor House, ARY News reported.

The meeting would be presided over by Federal Minister for Planning and Development, Asad Umar. Members National Assembly and Sindh Assembly and Karachi Electric (KE) representatives will also attend the meeting.

The industrialists and SSGC’s representatives are also invited to attend the meeting. It may be noted that meeting has been called on on the directives of Prime Minister Imran Khan.

On Friday, the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) held a public hearing on prolonged load shedding and overbilling by K-Electric in Karachi via video link.

Moonis Alvi, the chief executive officer of the city’s sole power distributor, had told the power regulator (NEPRA) that load shedding won’t end any time soon. He blamed a shortage of furnace oil and gas for increased load shedding in the metropolis.

He had said the power company faced a shortfall as electricity demand has risen to 3,300 megawatts while total production stands at 2,500 megawatts. He added the power distributor is trying to tackle the power issue.

Leader of the Opposition in the Sindh Assembly Firdous Shamim Naqvi had questioned why didn’t K-Electric stock furnace oil to cover a month. It’s advance preparations to tackle any such situation would have saved citizens a lot of suffering, he added. He said Nepra has failed to tackle the issue.