Power cut by Iran affects businesses in Gwadar, other coastal districts of Balochistan

Pakistani shopkeepers wait for customers in a shop during a power outage. (AFP)

• Balochistan government said up to 80 percent of electricity has been restored and that Iranian authorities have promised full restoration by second week of September
• Traders and residents complain of being charged thousands of rupees when they’ve not been able to use power for more than a month

KARACHI: The ongoing cut in the power supply from Iran to Balochistan’s Makran belt has severely affected business activities in Gwadar and the adjacent districts, traders say.
“The constant power cut has distressed trader activities in Gwadar city, where many businesses can’t be run without electricity,” said Ghulam Hussain, a leader of the Anuman-e-Tajiraan-e-Gwadar (Gwadar traders’ association). He added that up to 200 traders had asked to have their power disconnected, which was unheard of.
“Why should we pay, and from where we will pay bills if our businesses are going to be closed,” he said. As if the lack of power was not bad enough, he said the power-supply company was still sending bills demanding thousands of rupees.
On Thursday, the Senate’s Committee on Power was informed that Iran had stopped the transmission of 80 megawatts of electricity to the coastal areas of Pakistan, affecting the supply to the coastal cities of Gwadar, Panjgur and Pasni in Balochistan.
Malik Khurram Shehzad, the information minister of Balochistan, said that the Quetta Electricity Supply Company (QESCO) has reduced the load-shedding duration to eight hours a day.
Wahad Dad, a trader from the Kech area, refuted this claim, saying that there has barely been any electricity in Makran Division since first week of July.
Shehzad, who held a meeting with QESCO bosses about the power situation on Friday afternoon, said the Iranian authorities have given a written assurance that they will restore the power supply by the second week of September.
He also said 80 percent of the issue had been resolved and there was no load shedding of more than eight hours a day, which is normal throuhout Balochistan.
“After getting a complete supply from Iran in second week of next month, there will no load-shedding in Gwadar and other districts of Makran division,” he added.
Last month the traders’ association in Kech district closed their shops in a strike to protest against the prolonged power outage.
Earlier, traders told Arab News of the huge losses they had suffered due to power cuts, with sales falling by up to 90 percent and businesses that require electricity to function forced to shut.
QESCO’s representatie in Gwadar, Hasan Ali Magsi, said that Iran had been providing 100 MW of power to the Gwadar, Ketch and Panjgur districts of Makran Division. However, on July 3 the supply was cut to 12 hours a day, and decreased further to five hours two days later. The supplyhas risen to 12 hours again, Magsi said. This is disputed by residents, however, who say they only have power for two to three hours at night.
“We are told that Iran’s production has decreased by 1,000 MW due to a technical fault, which has impacted its power supply to Afghanistan, Iraq and the Balochistan province of Pakistan,” Magsi said, adding that the supply might remain disturbed for a further two weeks. In a previous interview, Shehzad had said that the crisis would be resolved by July 20.
Iran has been supplying electricity the Gwadar, Ketch and Panjgur districts of Makran Division since 1999. It supplied 35 MW daily until 2013, when it increased it to 100 megawatts for use in Gwadar, which will become an international business hub as part of the China-Pakistan Economic Corridor project.