Protest demonstrations against inflated electricity bills in Karachi and other cities have become intense as the newly-announced electricity policies under which the fuel price adjustment (FPA) and other taxes on the electricity bills, have  resulted in piles of miseries for the shocked power consumers across the country.

As a matter of fact, the FPA and other taxes etc. have doubled the electricity bills due to which the power consumers are unable to pay their monthly bills. The irony is that many cities are experiencing hours long load shedding on the daily basis but this does not reflect in their bills which show an unprecedented increase every month in terms of bills. Residents in several areas of Karachi went berserk on Friday after Juma prayers, setting fire to tires and disrupting traffic at main round-abouts.

And it is feared that the situation will spiral out of control in coming days if the Government failed to meet their  just demands. On the other hand, the KE had promised that bills with reversed FAC  for those consumers who have consumed less than 200 units to be issued on Friday but it could not materialize its promise which has created a further unrest among  masses. It may be recalled here that last month, the distribution companies had  charged an additional Rs155 billion as compensation for what was termed as extremely high fuel generation cost in June. At the same time, these companies previously owned by Wapda and Discos were allowed to levy an unprecedented FCA of Rs11.37 to K-Electric and Rs9.89 per unit. Our energy woes are no secret. On the one hand, we have been facing increased energy prices during the last many years while on the other hand; the uncertainty on supply side is further exacerbating the issue to unbearable extent. In fact, the main reason behind the ever-increasing electricity and gas prices is the low availability of these two utilities as compared to the rising demands of these two products, mainly during peak demand seasons.

Not only the masses are faced with the dilemma of high energy charges, their unavailability is also an issue due to which the masses endure long spells of electricity load -shedding across the country while the industrial sector is also in fix as its working is badly affected by power shutdowns due to which they are unable to meet their productions targets. Same is the case with gas supply in the country. While in summer, people face electricity woes, in winter, gas becomes a rare commodity with problems likes  extreme low pressure and gas load shedding across the country. For instance, the country's mega industrial city which is the economic Karachi is subjected to not only low gas pressure but also long spells of gas load shedding in winter during the last many years. And even in summers, the pressure is low for hours in some localities not enough to cook food or run the industrial units. Our energy woes are getting worse with the passage of every day.

During summer season, the demand for electricity is at peak while in winter the gas demand is very high. And to bridge this gap, the government often resorts to load shedding of these two utilities, which make life miserable for the masses both in winter and in summer. Since our resources to produce more electricity and explore more gas and oil are dwindling and the oil prices are very high due to which the power generating units cannot be run as the cost is unbearable. However, a little bit lifestyle changes marked by 'early rise in the morning and early going to bed' can help save a lot of energy as in this way, we can avail the sunlight during day for carrying out our daily chores and running our businesses in day light, lessening the burden on the electricity resources of the country. Some people think that lifestyle changes may not help overcome the crisis but the fact is that every step has to be ensured whether big or small to conserve energy because we have to work very hard to overcome the country's energy issue. Various small steps together can help overcome the crisis to some extent.   

In the wake of the unrest among the common man, the wise for the government would be to provide them due relief by announcing a cut in electricity prices as the masses are  already faced with enormous problems and the wise thing would be listen to them as they are the already running from pillar to post to make both ends meet. It may be mentioned here that the previous government of  PTI also ignored the issues of the common man. What is needed is that the current government should not repeat the mistakes and blunders made by previous government and instead should provide due relief to them.

Published in The Daily National Courier, August, 27 2022

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