Fresh Pakistan protest over power

Pakistan suffers an electricity shortfall of over 1,000MW a day

There have been fresh protests in Pakistan for the second day running over frequent power outages.

On Tuesday, protests across the country turned violent, causing damage to public and private property. There are more protests planned for Thursday.

Pakistan suffers an electricity shortfall of over 1,000 megawatts (MW) a day, officials say.

The government has not succeeded in reducing the supply gap despite repeated promises.

It has appealed for calm, claiming that a power station with an extra 3,000MW will be on-stream within months.

Sporadic protests over power outages have been the norm since 2007, but this is the first time simultaneous protests broke out across the country.

Fresh protests were reported from parts of Punjab and the North West Frontier Province on Wednesday.

The protesters took to the streets, chanting slogans against the government and the power authority.

On Tuesday a strike called by businessmen in Punjab province, which houses nearly 60% of the country's population, turned violent when spontaneous protests broke out all over the province as well as in parts of the provinces of Sindh and NWFP.

Traders and industrialists say frequent power outages are causing daily losses that runs into millions of dollars.

Industrialists complain their production schedules have gone haywire due to outages that occur unexpectedly and not according to a predetermined schedule.

The Pakistani economy grew at an average of eight percent during 2002-07, boosting demand for electricity at domestic, trading and industrial levels.

Rampage

But no new power generation projects were commissioned, creating a serious power shortage by 2007.

In urban areas, authorities are cutting power supply by four to eight hours a day in each area to ensure even power distribution.

In rural areas, such power outages range from 12 to 16 hours.

On Tuesday, protesters blocked highways and city roads, staged sit-ins and damaged public and private property.

In Jhang, a mob went on the rampage, burning three cars of a train and damaging the local offices of the power authority and the police.

Protests were also reported from Karachi and Peshawar, where protestors blocked roads and laid siege to offices of the power authority.

These protests came a day after the weekend rains in the southern city of Karachi, a city of over 16 million.

The rains caused a 36-hour power breakdown in Karachi, sparking riots.

The central government on Tuesday night put the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation on notice to explain the power breakdown.

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