On Saturday, the gap between generation (9,000MW) and demand (over 16,000MW) rose to more than 7,000MW, forcing planners to resort to 18 hours loadshedding in urban areas and more than 20 in the rural areas.

By Friday afternoon, according to the Pepco record, Atlas Power (219MW), Nishat Power (200MW), Nishat Chunian (200MW), Kohinoor (124MW) and AES Lal Pir (249MW) went completely offline. Other generation giants like Kapco (1,342MW), Hubco (1,200MW) and Muzaffarghar (1,130MW) reduced their operations, leaving the entire generation to gas-driven and hydel (4200MW) plants in the country. The reduction in their generation is best reflected by the Hubco, which was contributing only 300MW against its total capacity of 1,200MW.

“Fuel supply to these plants is like daily purchase of open flour for a family,” says a former managing director of Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco). The day one fails to buy flour, the family would go without meal.

By Friday afternoon, the sector has to pay for fuel for next three days. With current collection, which is not even sufficient for daily purchase, such a payment is simply impossible. That is exactly what happened by Friday afternoon, the plants started going off one after another and by Friday night disaster struck the sector and the country, he said.

He hoped the situation would start improving by Monday afternoon when the sector is able make some cumulative payments for fuel. But, the crisis would be repeated next Friday to nearly the same level, for the same reasons.

“The crisis goes much deeper,” says a former general manager (finance) of Wapda. Current average notified (actual recovery) tariff is Rs8.89 per unit, whereas average determined (cost of service) tariff is Rs11.91 per unit – leaving a gap of Rs3.02 per unit that comes from the government as subsidy. The power sector recoveries are only 90 per cent in the first nine months of the current fiscal. That means it is only recovering Rs8 per unit, suffering a loss of Rs0.89 per unit.

This amount runs into billions of rupee and translates directly into fuel shortage and plant closures. On top of it, the National Electric Power Regulator (Nepra) has increased tariff to Rs14.56 per unit in April this year and did so with retrospective effect – from July 1, 2012 as the Disco petitions were submitted to it in April last year. This amount of Rs2.70 per unit, which should have been pumped into the sector in the last nine months, went missing. That naturally translated into fuel shortage and regular plant closures.

According to a senior LDA official, the city’s top civic body has no option but to demolish the plaza’s five floors (5 to 9), which were badly damaged due to massive fire around 10 days ago.

“Initially we have got conducted three major BSTs including core cutting test, compressed stamp test and yield testing by involving top engineering experts. The BSTs reports are negative, necessitating demolition of the building’s five floors,” LDA’s urban development wing’s chief Israr Saeed told Dawn on Saturday.

“Keeping in view a go-ahead from the authorities, we will start executing the task by demolishing the building’s 9th floor first from Tuesday,” he said.

Saeed said though there were some other BSTs that were scheduled to be conducted within a couple of days, the aforementioned tests were sufficient to reach a decision to demolish the affected floors. He said the building looked to be repairable after extinguishing the fire, but the LDA decided to get the BSTs conducted through experts by considering the fire intensity that caused dangerous cracks at the 9th floor’s structure.

Meanwhile, the LDA officials concerned on Saturday started removing articles such as towers and generators from rooftop, burnt material/furniture etc from the damaged floors and the entire articles from various bank branches and offices at the plaza’s ground floor. “We have assigned the building clearance task to a team that has started removing goods from the damaged floors and rooftop of the building through a 200-foot high crane,” he said.

Asked as to why the LDA didn’t use such a heavy crane to extinguish fire and save lives, the official said since the operation was being carried out by Rescue 1122, the LDA high-ups didn’t intervene in the matter. “Though the rescuers could have brought this crane, they didn’t do it.”

He said since the LDA senior officials were of the view that the rescue officials would extinguish the fire because of availability of necessary equipment, they were surprised after the rescue staff failed to do so. “Had the rescue team asked us to arrange such a heavy crane, we would have accomplished this task to save lives of people. But they didn’t tell us and kept us in the dark.”

In separate statements on Saturday, the Pakistan Industrial and Traders Association Front (PIAF) and the Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) termed the increase an anti-industry and anti-masses move.

PIAF Chairman Malik Tahir Javed said electricity prices in Pakistan were already higher than other countries of the region, and the new hike would push the crisis-hit industrial sector to the wall.

“How Pakistani merchandise will be able to win buyers in the international market when their prices will be higher than the same quality goods of other countries?” he said.

The PIAF chairman said according to reports more than 40 per cent electricity was being stolen, but instead of controlling the theft and line losses, the authorities were busy in further increasing its tariff in spite of the proven fact that the raise in the tariff always leads to increase in power theft.

He said the flight of capital had intensified in the recent years only because of flawed government policies, especially relating to energy and infrastructure.

He said massive loadshedding had crippled the industrial activities, thousands of industrial units had closed down or relocated while millions of industrial workers had lost their jobs but instead of initiating any mega power projects, the government remained busy in increasing power tariff.

He said the increase would badly affect the agriculture sector which was backbone of the economy and feeding more than 70 per cent of the population.

Mr Javed urged the caretaker government to immediately withdraw recent increase in electricity tariff and avoid making such destructive decisions.

Lahore Chamber of Commerce and Industry President Farooq Iftikhar said the hefty increase in power prices would adversely affect competitiveness of Pakistani merchandise that had already lost their due place in a number of global markets due to high prices.

“In the international market, the profit margin fluctuates between 0.5 per cent and 0.8 per cent and after the recent increase there will hardly be any buyer for Pakistani goods. If the increase under the fuel adjustment surcharge was inevitable, it should have been implemented in phases instead of in one go,” he said.

Mr Khan had suffered head and back injuries when he fell from a forklift on May 8 that was carrying him up on the dais to address a public meeting in Gulberg’s Ghalib Market — the first of eight public meetings he had scheduled in Lahore.

Headed by Chief Executive of Shaukat Khanum Memorial Cancer Hospital & Research Centre (SKMCH&RC), a team of senior orthopaedic and neurosurgeons continued to provide treatment to him from day one.

“According to Saturday’s MRI report three ‘problematic’ discs of backbone of Mr Khan have now taken original shape”, SKMCH&RC Media Officer Raheel Naseem told Dawn. He said the treating doctors, after analysing the MRI report and comparing it with the previous one, described it as a healthy sign of fast recovery of Mr Khan from the backbone injuries.

The injury to his back had caused no neurologic damage and the strength and mobility of his limbs remained undiminished, he said.

He said Mr Khan’s pain had lessened and “he now only needs pain-killers occasionally.” “He is now able to sit on the bed and is receiving regular physiotherapy,” Mr Raheel said.

He said Mr Khan would have to take bed-rest for two weeks from the period of his discharge from hospital. Afterwards, he would be required to wear a special support for his back for some weeks but would be fully mobile with this.

Sources said the suspect fled with the help of his accomplices who held the on-duty policemen hostage at gunpoint early on Saturday. However, police said the suspect slipped from the ward when he found the policemen asleep.

Police authorities suspended the Samanabad investigation in-charge and took a head constable and three constables into custody.

A police source said Athar Mehmood, who was linked to the murder of brothers Kashif and Faizan in Samanabad a few weeks ago and was injured in a crossfire with them in Sanda, was rescued by his two unidentified accomplices. He said Mehmood too had got a case registered with Sanda police against the two brothers he allegedly gunned down.

Iqbal Town SP (Investigation) Zahid Nawaz Gondal said Mehmood was admitted to the Gujranwala Ward and fled when he found all four policemen on duty asleep. He said he was neither handcuffed nor shackled because of his injuries. He had two bullet wounds on his chest and four on left arm.

The SP said an investigation had been launched to determine how Mehmood, who had to be operated upon on Sunday, left the hospital on foot.

ROBBERIES: Robbers looted cash and valuables worth more than Rs3.1 million in four strikes in the city on Saturday.

Four robbers barged in the house of Samia Naz in Wapda Town in Sattokatla police precincts and took away cash and valuables worth Rs1.7 million.

Four robbers stormed Samia Zubair’s house in E-Block in Johar Town and took away cash and valuables worth R600,000.

Two robbers entered a seed company office in Raiwind City police precincts and looted Rs750,000 at gunpoint.

Three robbers entered the factory of Adnan on Bund Road in Baghbanpura police precincts and snatched Rs80,000 from the staff.—Staff Reporter

A majority of the affected children were shifted to Mayo and Children’s hospitals.

A senior official of the health department said the number of deaths and other cases started decreasing due to a comprehensive anti-measles drive launched recently in the Punjab capital.

According to a handout, the minister appreciated the police for performing election duties in a professional way and also urged
them to work for the elimination of crime from society.

He said police officers should visit police stations once a week and examine daily and other registers besides lock-ups.

CCPO Khalid Dad Lak, DIG (Operations) Jawad Ahmad Dogar, DIG (Investigation) Zulfiqar Hameed, SSPs operations as well as investigation and all divisional SPs attended the meeting.

The 68-member delegation will leave for Turkey from Karachi and Islamabad on Monday (tomorrow).

Talking to Dawn on Saturday, SCBA Secretary Javed Iqbal Raja said during the one-week visit, the bar members would have an opportunity to exchange views on the judicial system with their counterparts.

Bar President Mian Israrul Haq will lead the delegation. Malik Saeed Hasan, Justice Khwaja Muhammad Sharif (retired), Ramzan Chaudhry and Zahid Bokhari are among the prominent members of the delegation.

According to a handout issued here on Saturday, the Multan district and sessions judge has been directed to probe into the matter and submit a detailed report on the steps taken by the local police, with his own comments.

Ghulam Muhammad, a resident of Naurangabad, told the police that his wife and two daughters were asleep when Altaf Baloch and Nazeer allegedly barged in his house and tried to rape his daughters. His wife and daughters raised an alarm and this annoyed the accused. They threw acid on the three women and ran away.

The acid attack victims were shifted to Nishtar Hospital, where Muhammad’s wife and a daughter were said to be in a critical condition because 50 per cent of their bodies have been burnt by the acid. The other girl, who suffered minor injuries, was sent home after first aid.

However, the police registered a case and arrested one of the accused.

The LHC Complaint Cell took notice of the news and directed the district and sessions judge to look into the matter and submit a report within a week.

Particularly affected was Sindh where some cities witnessed record highest maximum temperature.

The maximum temperature in Lahore increased from Friday’s 43.5 degrees Celsius to 45.3 degrees Celsius. The blazing sun and strong hot wind kept people indoors. Streets wore a deserted look during the day.

According to the Met office, the highest maximum temperature was recorded in Larkana which was 51 degrees Celsius. It was followed by 50.5 degrees Celsius in Moenjodero, 50 degrees in Shaheed Benazirabad, 48 degrees in Jacobabad, 49.1 degrees in Dadu and 47.5 degrees Celsius each in Padidan and Sukkur.

Bahawalpur and Rahim Yar Khan were the hottest cities in Punjab with a maximum temperature of 47.5 degrees Celsius. The maximum temperature in some other southern Punjab cities was over 45 degrees Celsius.

The Met office says mainly hot and dry weather is expected in most parts of the country during the next 24 hours. There are chances of dust raising winds in Lahore.