It’s getting hot out there and the frequent power cuts are draining Pakistanis of any last reserves of energy or motivation they may have had left. With as many as 12 hours cut off of electricity in some places, the summer months are proving to be a real trial for citizens. However, it is the government that is feeling the heat now with many of its election promises going unfulfilled and tempers rising at the lack of responsibility that has so far been shown. That is why the discourse over the last few days has been centred around the energy crisis, more so than ever before. Nawaz Sharif has hinted at approaching the power shortfall with a long-term, 25-year plan so as to, once and for all, obliterate the crisis. This is commendable because the matter is so urgent and so debilitating that unless strong foundations are laid to fix the mess, we will be living in darkness for a very long time to come. It has been estimated that the frequent load shedding is shaving off as much as one percent of GDP per annum. The crippled economy should be testament to the gravity of the situation. We have come to this sorry state because of a whole slew of reasons. Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali has declared that a whopping 1,006 MW of electricity is unaccounted for from the national grid. Without elaborating where this staggering amount of electricity has just vanished, the minister has blamed anomalies in the system, saying that they will be looked into. Mr Ali’s claim must be looked at with a bit of scepticism because of the lack of cold, hard facts. However, one thing is clear: the two biggest reasons behind the energy deficit are electricity theft and non payment of electricity bills, particularly by government institutions themselves, giving rise to the phenomenon of circular debt. Nawaz Sharif did try to counter the debt problem by retiring some Rs 500 billion soon after coming to power, which itself came under scrutiny as it was allegedly not audited properly. The circular debt has, once again, climbed to Rs 350 billion, showing that stopgap measures will not solve our current dilemma. China has stepped in to vow cooperation; the Port Qasim thermal power project, which was inaugurated in Karachi on Friday, is a case in point. It is good to know we have friends in the international community looking out for us but all these things will come to nothing if the government itself is not serious. It is hoped Prime Minister Sharif’s current interest in the energy crisis remains at a peak; we have lost too much foreign and local investment and capital, and without a strategy on a war footing, the government will end up losing the confidence of those who voted for it.*