ISLAMABAD: Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif on Saturday reprimanded Secretary Water and Power Younus Dagha over power outages in several parts of the country.

During the meeting with Dagha, the prime minister also expressed displeasure over the preliminary report submitted by the Secretary of Water and Power and directed him to address citizens' complaints at the earliest.

Power outages during Sehr and Iftar timings were reported from several cities across the country on Friday contrary to the federal government’s announcement of supplying uninterrupted electricity during these timings in the holy month.

Prolonged power outages of up to 20 hours were also reported from Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, which resulted in violent protests.

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The premier had earlier “expressed resentment over power outages during Sehr and Iftar”, said a statement issued by the Prime Minister House last night.

He had sought a report and had directed the water and power ministry to immediately address the complaints.

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Dagha's report on power outages, which was submitted to the PM today, said that the water and power ministry was able to provide uninterrupted electricity to about 75 to 80 per cent of areas in the country on the first day of Ramazan.

The report stated that there were difficulties in areas where Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) and Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) are situated. It said that both companies had received a large number of complaints from residents of the areas.

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Citing the reason for power outages, the report said it was due to the severe heatwave in the country which has been ongoing for the past two to three days. It also said that there was an increase in the demand of electricity beyond 21,000 MW.

The secretary assured Prime Minister Nawaz that his ministry was fully aware of people's difficulties, adding that steps were being taken to continue the provision of electricity in Ramazan.