ISLAMABAD – As temperatures soar across Pakistan, unannounced loadshedding of electricity have intensified, causing severe disruption in urban and rural areas.
Reports said the country is currently facing an electricity shortfall of over 4,000 megawatts.
Karachi residents are experiencing power cuts of up to 10 hours, while Rawalpindi faces 8–10 hours of outages.
Islamabad sees 6-hour blackouts, and Lahore suffers 5–6 hours of load-shedding. In Peshawar, urban areas endure 6-hour cuts, while surrounding rural regions face up to 14 hours without electricity.
The Energy Ministry has also included industries in loadshedding schedules and is considering restarting offline power plants.
A day earlier, Federal Minister for Power, Awais Leghari, announced measures to reduce load-shedding, saying electricity supply would improve from Thursday night.
He explained that the shortfall is due to gas supply disruptions from the closure of the Strait of Hormuz and a decrease of around 1,600 MW in hydropower production.
Leghari highlighted that Pakistan is promoting solar and renewable energy, and noted that LNG shortages have worsened the crisis, causing a deficit of over 3,000 MW.
Electricity demand in April ranged from 9,000 to 20,000 MW, with load-shedding increasing whenever demand exceeded 16,500 MW.
The minister emphasized that once hydropower output rises, load-shedding will be reduced and efforts are being made to distribute outages equally between urban and rural areas.
