Federal government may cancel contract of K-Electric, says Ranjha

Islamabad
Parliamentary Sectary for Information, Broadcasting and National Heritage Mohsin Shah Nawaz Ranjha has said that federal government will cancel the contract of K-Electric, if it does not comply with the terms of the contract.
Mr Ranjha was addressing a seminar on ‘Future trends of heat waves: how to cope?’ organised by Sustainable Development Policy Institute here.
Mr Ranjha said that the federal government had decided in January not to renew the contract but to avoid any litigation the company was given a second chance.
He said that the gross mismanagement is the root cause behind the failure. On the fateful day, the total demand for electricity was 3,100 megawatts whereas under the agreement, K-Electric should be able to generate and arrange about 3,300 megawatts in total. If the contract is terminated now, he was sure that the courts will not give K-Electric an interim relief. In this connection, NEPRA, the regulatory authority, is likely to issue a showcase notice, to the company.
Dr Fahad Saeed discussing his “heat wave simulation model” said that in future there will be more intense heat waves. He said frequency of this extreme weather phenomenon is likely to increase. He said that in overall, there could be five degree increase in annual temperature. The only way to handle the situation is to prepare and implement a coping plan.
He said a successful operational plan was implemented in Ahmadabad, India, where damage due to the heat wave was contained. He said that temples and libraries were declared as resting places in intense heat in India. Additionally, he said, the general public, especially the labour class, was kept informed about the heat pattern through an effective communication plan.
Dr Abid Suleri, SDPI Executive Director, in his comments called for better and broader safety nests for the poor who are more vulnerable to calamities.
Heat waves, like floods, he said, are a permanent pheromone, intensely hitting the lower classes of the population, so the governments in budgets should have generous allocations for them.
Maha Kamal, in representation of the Energy Unit of the SDPI, held K-Electric responsible for the disaster. She said that SDPI in its report ‘Post-Privatisation appraisal of KESC’ two years back had pinpointed inefficiency in generation and distribution as the culprit. She said huge line losses and default on PSO payments are facts, too glaring to be ignored.