20 April, 2010
The Water and Power Development Authority’s (Wapda) proposed cut in Karachi’s quota, allegedly at the behest of Punjab, will further aggravate the city’s power crisis, MQM legislators said during the Sindh Assembly session on Monday.
Health Minister Dr Sagheer Ahmed claimed that there were reports that Karachi’s power quota was being cut to provide more electricity to Punjab, which, he said, was completely unjustified. In an apparent reference to Punjab Chief Minister Shahbaz Sharif’s recent statement, he said, without naming anyone, that such “irresponsible statements” were “regrettable”. The urban and rural areas of Sindh were already suffering from unabated load-shedding and peoples’ increasing grievances should be addressed, the health minister said, adding that it was incumbent upon Wapda to provide 700 Megawatt (MW) to Karachi. After the unanimous passage of the 18th Amendment, he said, focus should now be given to power generation; the government should also provide gas for the purpose.
Khalid Ahmed from the MQM alleged that WAPDA was considering a reduction in the power quota for Karachi at the behest of Punjab. Wapda, as part of a written agreement, was supposed to provide 700MW to the city, but it was providing only 630MW, and was now considering a cut even in this reduced quota. This act, Ahmed said, is likely to compound the power situation in the metropolis where citizens were already suffering six- to eight-hour-long spells of load-shedding (Source: NewsLineKarachi)
No comments:
Post a Comment