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The federal capital of Pakistan, where the state is responsible for providing round-the-clock electricity to government institutions, embassies, parliament, Supreme Court, important national installations and millions of citizens, has been suffering from unannounced load shedding and frequent power outages during the intense heat for the past several days.

Consumers in almost all major sectors of Islamabad, government residential colonies, suburban areas and new housing societies remained deprived of electricity for several hours, while the situation was no different in Rawalpindi, Attock, Chakwal and Jhelum.

When fans, water motors and medical equipment stop working in temperatures reaching 48 to 50 degrees Celsius, it becomes not just a technical malfunction but a human problem. The elderly, the sick, children, women, students, small business owners, laborers, and millions of people working from home are being directly affected by this crisis, but unfortunately, there is no one to comfort or console them.

At the official level, annual maintenance, line shifting, construction work, and faults are being cited as the reason for the power outage, but the ground realities appear to be much more serious than that.

According to available information, the demand for electricity in the ISCO region is about 2327 MW, while the supply has been reduced by more than 350 MW, resulting in load management. In the recent past, we have been constantly hearing and reading that ISCO gets an average of 2050 MW from the national grid under normal circumstances, while ISCO gets 1200 MW from net metering.

Thus, when an institution with a supply of 3250 MW of electricity suddenly starts squeezing the sweat of the public in the intense heat, the problem appears more exploitative than administrative. On the other hand, ISCO has been continuously paying a huge amount annually in terms of capacity payments.

During June 30 and July 1, several sectors of Islamabad’s F, G, I, H and E series, Punjab House, F-6/2, I-8, H-8, Bani Gala, Bhara Kahu, Saidpur, Pir Sohawa, Park View, Medina Town, Simli Dam Road, Taramri, Chatta Bakhtawar, Ghauri Garden, Burma Town and dozens of other areas remained without electricity for several hours at different times of the morning, afternoon and night. Consumers in Askari, Jinnah Camp, Westridge, Millitabad, Lalazar, Adiala, Top City, Peshawar Road and other areas in Rawalpindi also faced the same situation, while prolonged outages were also reported on several feeders in Attock, Chakwal and Jhelum.

There has been an unprecedented flood of complaints against IESCO on social media over the past three days. Users repeatedly wrote that the 118 helpline was constantly busy, while complaints were not redressed promptly, and citizens were only given formal messages of “sorry for the inconvenience”. Several users raised the question of what crime they were being punished for if they pay their bills on time?

 This situation is also unusual because the recovery rate of electricity bills is said to be very high in most urban areas of Islamabad and Rawalpindi. For years, consumers have been told that load management is mainly limited to high-loss feeders, but the recent crisis has put a question mark on this claim as this time almost all major sectors of the federal capital have been affected at some stage or another.

This is not the first time that IESCO’s performance has come under criticism. The power distribution system, consumer complaints, lack of transparency, financial management and infrastructure deficiencies.

In several cases, the attention of the relevant institutions has also been drawn, but the signs of effective and lasting improvement at the public level have not yet been visible.

Energy experts say that simply fixing faults on an emergency basis is not the solution to the problem. If the system comes under pressure in the same way in every severe heat wave, it means that fundamental reforms are needed in planning, capacity and infrastructure. It is also important that accurate and timely information is provided to consumers to end uncertainty, rumors and public anxiety.

This crisis has also raised another fundamental question. Every time the power system comes under pressure, there is talk of new projects, upgrades, repairs, additional funds and emergency measures, but the public wants to know what results were achieved with the resources spent on improving the power system in the past? Which projects have been completed, which are incomplete, and why does the same crisis resurface every summer? These are questions that the relevant institutions are responsible for providing clear, documented, and public answers to.

For the Federal Ministry of Energy, NEPRA, and IESCO administration, this is not just a technical matter but a test of public trust. Citizens do not just buy electricity; they maintain a system through their taxes and bills that they expect to provide safe, reliable, and uninterrupted power.