Faryal Hanif Goraya - Today the whole nation feels paralysed due to the energy crisis it faces. In our country, energy crisis started in 1985. Different political parties raised voice for building the Kalabagh Dam during General Zia-ul-Haq’s regime.
But unfortunately the Wapda Survey team went to Nowshehra, and measured the dam height.
The NWFP governor, now KPK, refused to build it, arguing at such height Noshera district would be drowned.
Thereafter, the Kalabagh Dam issue was taken up by National Awami Party & Sindh Nationalist Party, due to which the project became disputed.
If the project had been completed, 3500 MWs of electricity would have been produced, and the nation would not have faced the energy crisis.
Now, here I would like to share some points, which are the main causes of energy crisis.
NON CONSTRUCTION OF DAMS:
To overcome the energy crisis, the cheapest energy comes from hydel projects. Unfortunately our previous governments did not construct dams, according to our needs.
The population is increasing day by day. On the other hand, the industrial & agriculture sectors are not faring well due to the shortage of electricity. Hence, we need to construct more dams.
WATER SHORTAGE:
One of the biggest causes of the energy crisis is scarcity of water because we do not have a proper system for water shortage due to which water is wasted.
Water levels have gone down considerably in Pakistan, and this shortage of water can be met by constructing tube-wells.
Shortage of water has created problems for agriculture. Wheat, rice, cotton, vegetable, fruits and also fodder of animals are in extremely less quantity in the country. Pakistan is an atomic power. We can obtain energy from nuclear technology. But we are not utilising the nuclear technology for the purpose.
Defective government policies & political Hurdles:
The other main cause of energy crisis in Pakistan is defective policies of the successive governments. The ruling elite does not treat provinces equally, but based on prejudices.
Political parties are also responsible for the energy crisis. They, for their vest interests, ignore and avoiding the collective interests of the nation.
Another reason of the energy crisis is terrorism in the country, so the investors do not come here to invest.
Due to line losses & theft of electricity, our power generation capacity is 16,000MWs. Our system is very old. Line losses are the main cause of power crisis in the country.
If stringent steps are taken to control these losses, then there will be decrease in the energy crisis and this mode of corruption will be controlled.
Due to these reasons, our economy is facing losses. Every sector is affected due to loadshedding and unemployment increases in the industrial and agriculture sectors Resultantly, the whole economy suffers.
How to overcome the
The present government intends to resolve the energy crisis seriously. The prime minister has visited China and Central Asian States to settle this problem The Chinese president visited Pakistan on April 20, 2015 for two days Pakistan-China signed Memorandums of Understanding and agreements worth $45 billion on the occasion, while $35 billion investment was agreed for the energy projects like coal, solar, wind and hydel.
By the end of 2018, 8,400 MWs of electricity will be added to the National Grid. Total capacity of generation will increase more than 20,000 megawatts.
Prime Minister of Pakistan also visited Tajikistan. Four countries inked an agreement for a project of 1300 megawatts, out of which Pakistan will receive 1000 megawatts, while the remaining 300 megawatts will go to Afghanistan.
This project will be completed by the 2017 end. It is expected that by the end of 2018 the electricity shortfall will be overcome.
Our Industrial and agricultural sectors will start production according to our needs and requirements, and unemployment will decrease.
The federal and provincial governments both should preferably start hydel projects because these are least expensive.
