ISLAMABAD, June 28: The government has warned power distribution companies of tough action if they exceed a six-hour loadshedding limit in urban areas or eight hours in rural areas.

According to sources, Raja Pervez Ashraf, the Minister for Water and Power, came down hard on officials of distribution companies here at a meeting after Water and Power Development Authority (Wapda) Chairman Shakeel Durrani informed him that he had himself seen power cuts lasting between 14 and 18 hours in rural areas, particularly in the NWFP.

He said that the present level of power shortage did not justify such prolonged outages.

The sources said the minister said unscheduled and “longer-than-allowed” loadshedding spells were affecting the coalition government’s popularity. “What the hell has happened this year that you are resorting to such unprecedented levels of loadshedding,” an insider quoted Mr Ashraf as saying.

He said the minister added: “I will take action if you exceed the loadshedding time limit … even the prime minister or the president can’t save you.”

Terming the power distribution companies’ performance unimpressive, Mr Ashraf said that they should bring down line losses to 10 per cent from 45 per cent and stick to previously announced loadsheding schedules.

Heated arguments were exchanged during the one-hour meeting, the sources said.

Criticising the distribution companies’ recent recovery campaign, the minister termed it a failure and said it could result in unavailability of funds for purchasing oil and making timely payments to independent power producers.

“Didn’t you know last year that Pakistan’s annual power consumption growth is 12 per cent? What did you do to meet it?” another official quoted Mr Ashraf as saying.

When the minister was informed that power shortages still hovered around 4,000 megawatts, he refused to accept it as a justification for exceeding loadshedding limits.During the meeting, some officials of distribution companies complained about the existing quota system under which they got electricity from the National Power Control Centre (NPCC). The minister rejected the complaints, and said the distribution companies could not justify their inability to cope with a manageable power crisis on such “weak pretexts”.

The meeting also failed to agree on an unhindered electricity supply across the country between 1pm and 3pm on Fridays. Officials were not sure whether to divert the load for the proposed relief during prayers to the industrial sector, already reeling from power cuts.

According to an official announcement, Pervezs Ashraf directed the Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) and all power distribution companies not to resort to unannounced loadshedding.

He urged the distribution companies to announce loadshedding schedule in the media to inform consumers in advance.

The meeting was attended by officials of Pepco and Private Power and Infrastructure Board (PPIB).