ISLAMABAD/LAHORE/PESHAWAR (Agencies) - Taking notice of energy crisis in the country, President Asif Ali Zardari has summoned a high-level meeting of all heads and relevant officials of oil, gas and electricity departments, on Monday (today). The meeting will be held at Aiwan-e-Sadr in Islamabad to devise a strategy to curtail the hours of loadshedding. The President is reported to have told the Ministry of Water and Power, Wapda, Pepco and KESC to cut down the shortfall of 6,000 megawatts per day and devise a new strategy for load management of electricity. The main reason behind the power shortfall is the circular debt which has crossed Rs 200 billion. The Pepco is unable to pay the outstanding amount to PSO which in turn has cut the supply of oil to the power plants and IPPs. Media reports indicate that Pakistan Electric Power Companys efforts to patch things up with Pakistan State Oil (PSO) regarding delivery of furnace oil have failed. The row has skyrocketed the electricity crisis to historically highs bringing shortfall to over 6,000 megawatts. Pepco has reportedly failed to deliver Rs 15 billion it owes to Pakistan State Oil, over which PSO has stopped supply of 30,000 tons of furnace oil and now numerous power houses have ceased to function in four past days. Reports indicate massive outstanding dues worth more than Rs 200 billion, while the total power generation is 9,500 MW against demand of 15,500 MW. Currently major industrial and metropolitan hubs like Lahore and others are witnessing extensive loadshedding of 12 hours, while smaller towns and cities are being subjected to 18 hours of power cuts with rural areas and setups taking the heaviest toll of 20 hours. According to a private TV channel, the grid stations remained closed for several hours not only in the day, but also at the night making the ordinary citizens life unbearable. All the industrial organisations in the Punjab province including the capital city have announced to stage a protest strike on Tuesday (tomorrow) against the tormenting loadshedding. Meanwhile, reports from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) areas like Swabi, Mardan, Peshawar, and others suggest that electricity supply in the province remained suspended for more that 12 hours. The situation further deteriorated business sector in militancy and calamity-hit areas of the province besides irking the people already facing difficulties due to various problems. This paucity of electricity has taken a heavy toll on industrial sector and household activities as well.