THIS is with reference to the report ‘Row with Centre escalates after Gandapur ultimatum’ (June 20) and the editorial “KP’s ‘power struggle’” (June 21) that reported and commented on the recent action of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP) chief minister who, along with his party workers, took the law in his own hands and forcibly restored power supply to the affected areas. In doing so, he challenged the writ of the state and actually endangered the whole electricity supply system of Pakistan.

Currently, the country is in the grip of a hot summer, with humidity making the weather unbearable. Adding to the severity of the weather is the element of loadshedding by distribution companies (Discos), including K-Electric (KE), that have been involved in punishing their consumers.

Loadshedding is done either to manage the load to save the system from tripping, or as a punishment in areas involved in electricity theft or non-payment of bills. In the latter case, not only the electricity thieves, but also those who pay their electricity bills regularly suffer.

In a pro-people action, the KP chief minister apparently got a bit overzealous. He probably forgot that his action could have sparked the kind of cascading effect that had left the entire country without electricity in February 2013 and then again in January 2023 when the whole power generation, transmission and distribution systems had collapsed due to domino effects created by the tripping of one power plant. They were the worst power outages in the country.

Unfortunately, the non-serious act of the KP chief minister to gain popularity as well as political mileage was more like playing havoc with the national assets. The saner elements across the political divide in the country must keep a strict eye on the happenings in future.

Malik ul Quddoos
Karachi

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2024