Pakistan: Rawalpindi Grapples With Power Outages & Water Scarcity

Amid the sweltering weather in Rawalpindi, Pakistan, residents are enduring power outages lasting two to three hours, exacerbating their difficulties. These power cuts have also led to water shortages, according to Dawn.

Dr. Amjad Khan, CEO of the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco), stated that the company had turned off the main supply line to repair overloaded transformers. Khan explained, “Overloaded transformers go out of order and repair takes time. To repair the fault, Iesco switched off the main supply line of the area.”

He added, “In some areas, Iesco was upgrading the system and it had to stop the supply. There is no load shedding in any part of the city and cantonment area,” as reported by Dawn.

The power outages have disrupted the water supply, particularly during the heatwave, affecting 320 tubewells—260 in the city and 60 in the cantonment area. Civic authorities mentioned that the timetable for tubewells and filtration plants had been disrupted. Officials noted that the primary complaints from the cantonment and Wasa authorities involved low water pressure.

Zafar Qadri, Secretary General of the Rawalpindi Cantonment Traders Association, stated that while there was no load-shedding, Iesco had shut down electricity for repair work, Dawn reported. He explained that frequent power cuts disrupted business activities, as machinery would take two hours to restart each time it shut down. Qadri criticized the government for its policies and taxes on utility bills, stating that the purchasing power of the people had weakened, affecting the business community.

Meanwhile, Sindh Energy Minister Syed Nasir Hussain Shah announced on July 4 that load shedding in Karachi would be reduced by K-Electric in the coming days, as reported by ARY News. The minister stated that K-Electric was working to lessen load-shedding, especially during night and peak hours, to provide relief. An agreement was signed by the CEOs of K-Electric, NSCL, and STDC to construct a 40-megawatt power transmission line from Pipri Grid Station to NSCL at Port Qasim Authority, according to ARY News.