After a three day long energy meeting held in Islamabad under the chairmanship of Prime Minister Syed Yousuf Raza Gillani, the participants of the meeting have agreed upon some steps to overcome the worse energy crisis that has gripped the whole country. The key steps that the meeting has decided to be followed are two weekly holidays, closure of commercial shops and markets till 8:00 pm and ban on the utilization of Air Conditions in the government offices before 11:00 am.

We appreciate that at least our representatives have realized that the situation is not good at all and there is a strong need to take some immediate steps, but having said that situation cannot be changed by just paper work, the willingness should be seen to meet the energy crisis. Suggestions are very good to hear but implementation of these suggestions is a big challenge for the government because government officials themselves are not following the government instructions to not to utilize the Air Conditions before 11:00 am in the morning. Almost 15 days have been passed since the energy saving policy has been announced but the situation has become even worse. There is still long load shedding. People are protesting in each and every town of the country against the load shedding. Industries are closed due to unannounced load shedding. Traders throughout the country have also rejected the policy. Announcing two holidays in a week or closing shops early is not the solution to deal with the energy crisis. There should be no two weekly offs at least in educational institutions because it is difficult for both students and teachers to cover the syllabus especially when we talk about the universities where there is a semester system.

We recommend that along with these short term steps government should also consider some long term steps like construction of Kalabagh and Bhasha Dam. Thur Coal Mines can also contribute to overcome the severe energy crisis. We hope that government will follow the above mentioned suggestions to tackle the energy crisis.

- Humair Zahoor

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