PTI Offers Power Crisis Solution

LAHORE: Head of Pakistan Tehreek-i-Insaf’s  policy and planning cell, Jahangir Khan Tareen, has suggested concrete policy solutions to deal with the ongoing power crisis in the country which has paralysed the entire nation.

Addressing a press conference on Saturday, the PTI leader said that 210MMCFD gas should be diverted to power sector on an urgent basis to curtail unprecedented loadshedding. He also said that the government should increase liquidity to deal with the circular debt so that furnace oil is available to the power plants. Implementing these steps on an urgent basis can increase power generation by 3000MW and reduce the future circular debt, he added.

He  said that power generation can be increased by 1000MW immediately by releasing water from Mangla and Tarbela dams and the water would not be wasted as it was required for sowing of Kharif crop in both Sindh and Punjab.

Jahangir Tareen also proposed medium term solutions which include bringing down line losses from 20% to 10%, increasing collection to 95 per cent and convert 4500MW from furnace oil to coal. Undertaking the proposed solutions will enable the government to save Rs475 billion every year, he said.

Criticising the government, he said that the government has doubled the tariff in the last four years and had spent Rs1 trillion in subsidies but the situation has continued to deteriorate. Circular debt has swelled to Rs450 billion and load shedding has become unbearable, he added.

He stated that the PTI was deeply concerned for the people of Pakistan and has offered the government to implement the proposed solutions to deal with the crisis.