Short Simple Essay on Load Shedding in English for FSc Students

Pakistan is facing a very hard time as our current power supply is unable to meet the requirements. With the passage of time, this crisis is growing serious in terms of both generation and distribution of power. This shortage of electricity is playing havoc with industry, commerce and agriculture. Without proper power supply tube-wells and other machines cannot work. Factories are unable to give production to meet the need of the market. Business centres remain darkmost of the time. In hospitals, surgical operations become impossible. Schools and Colleges are without lights and fans.

Life within the four walls of a house has become exceedingly difficult. Keeping in view the tropical climatic conditions of our country, it can easily be imagined what happens with a common man when there are extraordinarily long gaps of power breakdown. Look at the economic condition of the poor masses Necessary food items are out of their reach. Education and health are costlier than ever. Can such people purchase generators or devices like UPS. It is definitely the responsibility of the state to take care of the basic needs of the people.

Industrialists and big businessmen are using their own generators. The result is, that their products are expenisve. Once again it is the common man who is the sufferer. These generators consume a lot of fuel that is resulting in price-hike of the petroleum products. The excessive use of generotors is causing atmospheric pollution as well as noise pollution.

Let us first trace the causes of such a grave problem so that we may be able to suggest some remedies to minimize its severity. The first cause is the lack of planning. No master-plan has ever been launched to meet the needs of the growing population. No doubt many thermal power stations are working, but they do not match the consumption. These power plants should be expanded and upgraded.

The second cause is WAPDA itself. The employees of this organization are white elephants. They are not worth the cost. Their salaries and other benefits consume a lot of revenue. Line losses are also getting out of control. Consequently, its reserves are not sufficient to set up more power stations.

Another reason is that the standard of living of most of our people has gone up. They have many items at home that run with the help of electricity. Air-conditioners are frequent in use. Population is multiplying rapidly and cities are growing fast. More electricity is needed to accommodate them, which is not possible at the present moment.

As far as solutions are concerned, they are difficult to come by. A huge amount is required to set up new power plants. If expenses are curtailed, such funds can be generated. WAPDA employees should work with a national spirit and they should sacrifice their luxuries for a few years. This will enable this organization to launch new projects of power generation. The real solution of this problem lies in making new hydroelectric power projects. We already have such projects at Tarbela, Mangla and Guddu, but they are not sufficient to meet the growing demand. India has started constructing many new dams on its rivers. if we also follow the same policy; we will be able to get double benefits. We will get cheaper electricity and at the same time we will have water reserves for our agricultural needs.

Unfortunately, we have wrongly politicized a national issue. If we succeed in constructing Kalabagh Dam and other dams, it will prove a great blessing for our country. Our short-sighted political leaders are playing a negative role in this regard. They try to reap temporary benefits and ignore the national cause. They should learn a lesson from other countries where electricity for agricultural purposes is almost free.

There is another hurdle. We have a centralized system of power generation and distribution. Instead of this system, we should have small power plants at the local level. The district and tehsil governments should be given suitable grants to set up their own power plants. They should also be encouraged to set up small hydroelectric power projects. Their cost will be affordable and their operation and maintenance will be easy. If we take such measures right now, we will be able to save our nation from total disaster.