Shortage of energy, especially electricity production,
distribution and pricing are serious problems of Pakistan which have been
adding to the sufferings and problems of the people for decades. will get and
their life will be easier but due to corruption, malpractice and wrong
decisions, the grievances of the common man have increased instead of
decreasing. The latest example of this is unfair contracts of IPPs, theft of
electricity, expensive fuel. Due to the use of electricity and the negligence
and carelessness of the officials, there are huge electricity bills which have
fallen on the consumers. has achieved the status of a bone, is being badly
affected and the trade deficit is moving towards the last limit of collapse.
Prime Minister Shahbaz Sharif called a high-level meeting to
review the energy issues in order to control this situation, in which he
directed that Provincial governments should stop electricity theft. Provide
police and administrative staff to discos to catch thieves. He said that
prevention of electricity theft, reduction of line losses, improvement of power
transmission and reforms in the energy sector are the top priorities of the
government. In this regard, he dealt strictly with the corrupt officers in the
distribution companies, made the court system efficient and effective in
handling public complaints against the power companies and steered for the
transfer of agricultural tubewells of Balochistan to solar energy. An order was
also given to call the meeting of the committee immediately. These orders and
instructions of the Prime Minister are not new, such measures were announced in
the past as well, but electricity theft stopped, corruption ended and other
problems could not be controlled. The staff of the relevant departments.
It is a sign of incompetence and theft of work that an
incentive package is being prepared for them to improve their performance.
Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar directed to prepare an action plan to solve the
problems of the petroleum sector for energy conservation and economic
development. Meanwhile, the Punjab government has announced a discount of 14
rupees per unit for those who use electricity from 201 to 500 units, for which
the provincial government has created the capacity to withdraw 45 billion rupees
from the development fund. This initiative has created difficulties for other
provinces. The people there demand that this concession be given to them as
well, but it is beyond the capacity of their provincial governments to do so.
But Sindh, Balochistan and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa will have to
swallow this bitter pill anyway. It can end well if the federal government
plays its role in this regard. According to observers, electricity can be cheap
in Pakistan, but as a first step in this matter, revision of unfair contracts
with electricity companies, expensive diesel, Instead of petrol and gas, it is
very important to increase the production of electricity from water, wind, coal
and sunlight. Preventing theft of electricity and improving the transmission
system is also an imperative need of the hour, which the government must pay
immediate attention to.
Due to the slow speed of the Internet across the country,
complaints of severe problems facing social and business communication,
especially information technology related activities, have been coming forward
for the past several days. Experts attributed this situation to the firewall
system installed to control the rampant social media, which our military
leadership has named as digital terrorism, and the government itself has called
it a temporary shutdown. The matter continued that the internet speed will be
restored as soon as the installation of the firewall is complete. However,
yesterday Federal Minister of State for IT and Communication Shaza Fatima
Khawaja claimed in a press conference that the internet was shut down at the
government level in the country and it was not 'slowed down' but the reason for
the pressure on the internet was the large number of people.
I have 'VPN usage' by users. However, IT experts are
generally expressing surprise and disbelief on this revelation. Regardless of
the technical reasons, one of the main reasons why this claim is true is that
if the internet slowdown was due to overuse of VPNs, why wasn't this excuse put
forward soon after the problem started, when the country was I was being blamed
for slow internet speed due to firewall installation. However, the Internet is
an indispensable necessity in today's world, so no country can afford its
shutdown or slow down. In this regard, the Minister of State has highlighted
the steps being taken in the field of obtaining 5G spectrum, digitization of
the economy, making the state's business completely paperless and providing IT
training to millions of youth. There are needs and they will open new ways of
development of the country.
Monsoon season this year has also caused
heavy rains in the length and breadth of the country and the resulting flood
situation. According to media reports, Balochistan, Gilgit-Baltistan,
Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, Lower Punjab and Sindh province are facing a rapidly
worsening flood situation due to the rains. There are damaged houses and crops.
Rains and landslides in Kaghan blocked roads and trapped tourists. Many cities
and villages of Gilgit-Baltistan have been cut off from other parts of the
country due to flood rails. Some districts of Balochistan are facing
devastating floods. On the other hand, the water level in all the rivers of the
country is continuously rising. And there are reports of millions of cusecs of
water being released by India into the Chenab, threatening dozens of towns and
villages that fall under it at any given time.
Since July 1, 82 people have been killed and
several injured in various accidents during the rains. Emergency is in force in
Chitral district, while the latest spell of monsoon has been predicted by the
Meteorological Department to continue till August 25. The situation is rapidly
deteriorating. The federal and provincial governments in charge need to closely
monitor the situation through the National Disaster Management Authority and
the administrative units of the affected districts, including measures to deal
with any emergency, immediate drainage of water and prevention of epidemics. A
responsible media campaign to keep citizens aware of the situation at all times
can help them avoid many pitfalls.
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