High Demand For Electricity Causes Unscheduled Blackouts

Many areas of Pakistan have experienced extreme unscheduled rolling blackouts (load shedding) since 18 March 2010 as a result of electricity demand that exceeds supply. The situation has been particularly severe in the southwestern province of Balochistan, which is experiencing blackouts of up to 20 hours a day as a result of both country-wide power supply issues and the recent sabotage of a power transmission facility. The power shortages have also affected towns and cities in Punjab, Sindh and the North-West Frontier Province, including Lahore, Sialkot, Faisalabad, Hyderabad, Khaipur, Noshehro Feroz, Ghotki, Obaro, Nawabshah, Jaccobabad, Mirpur and Larkana, which have reported power outages lasting eight hours. The blackouts have caused shortages of potable water in some areas, including in Lahore. In Karachi, an angry mob attacked the offices of the Karachi Electricity Supply Company in the Gulshan Hadeed area.