Treasury benches spar over hours-long Karachi loadshedding in NA

ISLAMABAD: The treasury benches in the National Assembly engaged in a heated debate on Friday over prolonged electricity loadshedding in Karachi, as various areas of the city endure extended power outages amid scorching heat.

Korangi, Lyari, North Karachi, and Surjani are among the areas experiencing over 12 hours of loadshedding daily.

During the National Assembly session, Minister of State for Finance, Revenue, and Power Division Ali Pervaiz Malik informed the legislative body that K-Electric had achieved zero loadshedding on 1,500 out of 2,109 feeders in Karachi.

Responding to a Calling Attention Notice in the lower house, Malik stated that 6 to 10 hours of loadshedding were being conducted on feeders with higher losses.

"The losses of ten feeders have exceeded 25%, and efforts are being made to reduce these losses with the help of local administration and public representatives," Malik said.

He clarified that there was "no loadshedding of 16 hours," instead noting that the duration of blackouts was 6-10 hours.

Pakistan Peoples Party (PPP) MNA Nabeel Gabol disputed this, asserting that the minister had been misinformed. "My constituency in Lyari is facing 16-hour loadshedding," he said, accusing departments of giving false briefings to ministers.

Gabol challenged Malik, stating that he would resign as a member of parliament if the loadshedding was indeed 10 hours long, but the federal minister should resign if the duration exceeded 10 hours.

In response, Malik explained that the electricity tariff was regulated by the National Electrical Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) following a prescribed procedure. He added that recent price hikes were due to fuel price adjustments, not changes in electricity prices.

The minister acknowledged that electricity might be cut off for more than 10 hours on technical grounds and assured the lower house that all concerns of the National Assembly members would be addressed.

He promised to visit Karachi to resolve the issue and assured that agreements regarding net metering would not be compromised.

"The government aims to promote renewable energy, and consumers on feeders with high losses also face difficulties, which is a valid concern. Transformer losses will be assessed to address this issue," he added.