LAHORE: As urban areas of the country start facing 12-hour loadshedding and the rural even more during biting winter, the power planners have started feeling the heat making contradictory claims and counter-claims to hide the real situation and adding to the woes of hapless consumers.

On Monday, the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) announced eight-hour loadshedding schedule, claiming that it was facing over 30 per cent (around 1,100MW) electricity shortage; forcing it to re-sort to corresponding (eight-hour) outages.

`The company has started observing eight-hour schedule both for urban and rural areas,` says Mehboob Elahi, operation director of the Lesco. The schedule holds true for all consumers; domestic, industrial and commercial, without any discrimination and it is being observed by the company in all areas under its jurisdiction, he says.

He has, however, made the schedule conditional with availability of 1,450MW, against total demand of around 2,500MW. `If generation goes down for any reason, the sched-ule would have to be altered. The company is currently facing a deficit of around 1,100MW, which constitutes more than 30 per cent of total demand,` he says.

Nevertheless, his assertion about the deficit flew in the face of power supply situation issued by National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC). According to the NTDC, the entire country faced a deficit of only 2,000MW generation of 10,000MW (hydel contribution of 1,800MW, IPPs 6,615MW and thermal 1,585MW) against total demand of 12,000MW by 7pm on Monday, which is peak time as far as power consumption is concerned.That means out of total national deficit of 2,000MW, the Lesco alone was absorbing well over 50 per cent of shortfall and rest of eight distribution companies divided less than 50 per cent with an average of little over six per cent each among them. With six per cent shortage, the rest of country should not have suffered more than one hour of loadshedding. Reports from other areas of the country, however, suggested over 12-hour loadshedding, belying these official figures.

`If this picture being painted by the NTDC and Lesco is true, it is criminal to say the least,` says a former head of Pakistan ElectricPower Company (Pepco). How can a distribution company suffer 50 per cent of loadshedding, and other eight companies taking a hit of 50 per cent put together. This is simply not possible, he says.

`The problem with the sector is that everyone is out to befool consumers, trying to make the situation look far less bad than it actually is.

Either the NTDC is lying or the Lesco is not telling the truth.

Someone from the ministry needs to look into the situation and clarify it for the common man. There is some gross confusion deliberate or unintended in the situation and needs to be looked into, he says.