LAHORE, Jan 21: Contrary to government’s claims, the Lahore Electricity Supply Company is resorting to unscheduled loadshedding throughout its jurisdiction.

Despite federal government’s Jan 9 announcement of putting an end to loadshedding, the people have to suffer at least half-an-hour outage spells several times a day in almost all city localities.

The situation in rural areas is more acute where power supply is kept suspended for hours as Wapda, the supplier of electricity to all eight power distribution companies, including Lesco, faces on an average 300MW shortage which goes up to 500MW during peak hours.

The unannounced outages are adding to miseries of citizens as it also affects water supply adversely.

Zeeshan of Samanabad says Lesco authorities would switch off power at least once early in the morning when Wasa usually starts water supply. This time is very crucial as children are usually getting ready for schools, and preparing breakfast and lunch boxes in dark kitchens becomes a hassle for housewives, he says. And the situation gets compounded if one somehow misses pressing children’s uniforms in the evening, he adds.

He wonders why Lesco authorities don’t warn the consumers before hand of the loadshedding.

No locality in the city, whether posh or a slum, is exempted from the `load management’.

However, Lesco officials strangely deny reports of loadshedding in any part of the city, introducing a new term, “permit for repairs of power transmission lines”, to conceal the practice.

A Lesco spokesman said on Saturday that power supply to many feeders along the under-construction Kasur road was disturbed due to relocation of transmission lines to make room for widening of the highway.

Similarly, repairing of transmission lines and transformers is going on in many other areas, he added.

But citizens like Zeeshan refuse to believe that Lesco workers start the repair work as early as 6:30am.

Some insiders say that Wapda and its all eight power distribution companies are denying loadshedding because otherwise they will have to admit that there is shortage of water for generating power in the country. And admission of water shortage will necessitate construction of major reservoirs like Kalabagh dam, which is not acceptable to many members of the federal cabinet.