e get no power for hours,” says Muneeb Baloch, a student at Turbat University, “It is even worse in summers. We have to bear the sweltering heat. The administration turns a deaf ear to our complaints.” Baloch says there are many reasons why the power crisis in Makran has persisted for longer than two decades. He says the silence of political parties, the business community, civil society and the media is incomprehensible. This year, too, during the months of May and June, there were power outages in Makran when power supply from Iran was disrupted.

Makran division gets its electricity mostly under a pact signed between Pakistan and Iran in 2003. Under this arrangement, the Quetta Electric Supply Company (QUESCO) supplies about 100 megawatts of electricity, generated in Iran, to various regions of the division. However, the arrangement has proved flimsy at best. Power supply from Iran is frequently suspended due to shortfalls, leaving the three districts in power blackouts. The areas most affected by load-shedding and distribution failures include Gwadar, Turbat and several settlements in Panjgur district.

A few months ago, electricity supply to Makran was suspended without any explanation. Thousands of people from the Gwadar, Kech and Panjgur districts then took to the streets to record their protest against the government for not addressing the problem. Because of the unscheduled power outage, the citizens had to suffer for many hours. Water supply, too, was disrupted.

“It was horrible,” recalls Muneeb Maqsood. “It wasn’t just that we didn’t have electricity though that in itself is bad enough. We also faced numerous other issues including a water shortage, health issues and so on,” he says. “I remember, when the power was out, the price of ice shot up. And there was a shortage of it too. If we were lucky to locate ice somewhere, they charged more than 100 rupees per kilo.”

“My life as a university student was disrupted. I wasn’t able to attend classes. When it was time final examinations, I was still struggling to catch up” Maqsood says. “[Because of the heat]… we were forced to sleep outdoors during the dengue fever season,” he says. “Predictably, a spike in the number of dengue fever cases followed,” he adds.

Turbat is the fourth hottest place in the world with the mercury reaching 53.7 degrees Celsius in the summer. The heat is intolerable, especially when there are power outages. A recent report by the Meteorological Department says Turbat is the hottest region in the country. It says temperature in the shade was above 50 degrees Celsius on June 7. Routine life was suspended in the town and business remained sluggish. It was scorching hot. The price of ice rose as power blackouts became more frequent. Later, there was a dengue fever epidemic in the town.

“We had no power for 10 to 12 days. The government paid no heed,” says Cherag Nabi, a resident of Tump. “Several diseases broke out in the area. Many people got sick with dysentery. The children and the elderly were worst affected,” adds Nabi. “We requested the government to do something for us but nothing happened. By the end of it, we were all worried for our health.”

Panjgur, another district of Makran divsion, is also among the hottest places in the country. This summer the temperature just kept rising. The situation was further aggravated by power cuts. Dilawar Khan, a resident of Panjgur, says the people had to block the CPEC Road to register their protest against lack of power supply. “We barely had power for two or three hours a day. That was why we came out and protested,” says Khan.

The situation is even worse in rural areas where power infrastructure is poorer. According to some estimates, 75 to 80 percent of the population of Makran division lives in rural areas. Most of them are denied access to electricity. According to Muhammad Ameen, a local journalist, the problem is persistent. “The residents of Tunk, a rural area of Turbat, face many problems due to the scarcity of electricity,” he says. He says the problems included “water shortage, limited availability of ice and health issues.” The power cuts disrupt economic activities in cities and agricultural work in rural areas,” he says.

In 2018, Makran had faced similar power outages. Some reports suggested that the main reason for the failure was an unexpected shortage of power in Iran itself. However, there were also other explanations including failure of transmission lines and the distribution network. Still others said that the energy needs of the division had risen over the years. There was also speculation that consumption in Iran had gone up owing to the heatwave.

Gwadar, as well as the rest of Makran division, continue to struggle with power outages. There have been reports that power supply sometimes plummets to as little as eight megawatts. It is feared that while the demand for power is set to increase arrangements have not been made to meet that demand. It is estimated that the Gwadar Free Economic Zone alone will require 240 MW electric power. Without a sound power supply infrastructure, the coastal region will be unable to make the promised transition to economic growth and prosperity.

The writer is a freelance journalist based in Turbat, Kech