AT long last, the federal government, led by Prime Minister Yousuf Raza Gilani, has woken up and has announced an energy roadmap, thanks to the persistence of Mian Shahbaz Sharif. The two years that have been wasted only show the governments listlessness and its propensity not to recognise any danger unless it reaches horrific proportions. However, the Prime Minister has announced some important measures to grapple with the situation. First of all, his statement that the government will inject Rs 116 billion in the power sector, especially in making the payments to the IPPs, is a step in the right direction. If all the IPPs are working in full gear, there is no doubt that the production would be enhanced considerably. The PM confirmed that these IPPs and RPPs would add 850MW of energy to the national grid right away and that the generation capacity would increase to 1300MW towards the end of the year. Likewise, he announced that the unscheduled loadshedding would be discontinued and regular outages will be cut by 33 percent. The midterm strategy he maintained will focus on exploiting the coal, wind and nuclear resources. While it is hoped that the government would act from the word go, the situation in Punjab is now getting out of control as businessmen, industrialists and the general public are now taking to the streets engaging in bloody clashes with the police. The bad news is that the traders have strongly rejected the governments proposal of two business holidays and closure of markets in the evening. Their argument that due to excessive heat customers who are not accustomed to a Spartan living largely turn up after sunset may not be entirely invalid yet given the enormity of the problem; and the fact that conservation would ease the burden to some extent, requires that they ought to show some flexibility. But their problem should be solved in the quickest possible time, so that they could resume business in the normal way. On the other hand, Chief Minister Mian Shahbaz Sharif must ensure that the province is getting its due share of electricity from the centre.