SKARDU: In the mountainous valleys of Pakistan, 18-hour daily power cuts have meant local teacher Aniqa Bano uses her fridge as a cupboard for storing books and kitchen utensils.
Load shedding is typical across much of fuel-short Pakistan, but few areas consistently suffer the same prolonged outages as Skardu city.
A surge in mountain tourism, driven by climbers and Pakistanis looking to escape heatwaves, is rapidly depleting the limited energy supply at the gateway to ascend K2, the world’s second-highest peak.
While higher-end hotels can supplement their supply with solar panels or fuel generators, many locals cannot afford such luxuries.
“We have to reinvent everything that once used electricity,” said Bano.
“We no longer have an oven, we use a coal-heated iron for clothes,” the 41-year-old teacher added. “When we come home tired from work, we cannot run a heater.”
TOURISM BOOM
Skardu is the largest city in the region of Gilgit-Baltistan, where almost impossibly high peaks tower over the Old Silk Road, still visible from a highway transporting tourists between cherry orchards, glaciers and ice-blue lakes.
Normally home to around 200,000 people, Skardu becomes heavily bloated in summer when Pakistanis seek the relief of its cooler climate at 2,228 meters (7,310 feet) above sea level.
The region hosted 880,000 domestic visitors in 2023, up from 50,000 in 2014.
As the country grapples with energy shortages – owing to dwindling forex reserves, mismanagement, rapid population growth and climate change – the tourism boom has proved too much for local power.
“Due to the increase in population and tourism activities, load shedding hours have increased,” Muhammad Yunus, a senior engineer for the regional government’s water and power department, told AFP.
There are up to 22 hours of load shedding in winter and between 18 and 20 hours in summer — an increase of around 10 percent each year for the past six years, according to the department.
Siddiqa, a tailor and handicraft maker who goes by one name, has seen her earnings fall alongside the number of hours of electricity.
“When we started this business in 2014, there was no issue of power,” she told AFP. “Now, I have replaced all the electric machines and brought hand sewing machines.”
“In the presence of light, we could prepare 10 to 12 suits every three days. Now, to prepare a single suit, it can take 10 to 15 days.”
The tourism flow does not appear to be letting up any time soon. There are up to 15 domestic flights a week to the region and, since March, international flights began landing from Dubai.
In Skardu alone, the number of hotels has increased more than fourfold since 2014, according to the tourism department.
7,000 MELTING GLACIERS
Owing to its remoteness, Gilgit-Baltistan is not connected to the national grid, so it relies on its own power generation from dozens of hydro and thermal plants.
But Pakistan’s 7,000 glaciers — more than anywhere outside the poles — are rapidly melting.
This can temporarily increase the availability of water for energy production, but the glaciers’ long-term ability to store and release water gradually decreases, affecting energy production.
“The availability of water for hydroelectric plants is becoming unpredictable,” said Salaar Ali, head of the Department of Environmental Science, University of Baltistan.
Damage to energy infrastructure is also a regular setback.
Record heatwaves in 2022 caused dozens of glacial lakes to burst their banks, washing away more than 20 power plants, 50 bridges and countless homes.
Inadequate planning and mismanagement of the power sector can also play a role, engineers have said.
The Satpara dam on the edge of Skardu city, completed in 2008 for $26 million of aid funding, was supposed to supply 40,000 homes with power.
But it generates just a fraction of its potential after plans to divert a river were halted, government engineers admit.
“It has been full only once since its formation,” said Yunus, the engineer in Skardu.
Without a reliable energy supply, Wajahat Hussain, a 36-year-old carpenter, uses a fuel generator to keep his business in operation — puffing out emissions that contribute to global warming.
“We run the generator to fulfil the demands,” he told AFP. “There is no work without the generator.”
Power crisis in northern Pakistan, plagued by decades of government neglect, exacerbated by mountain tourism
https://arab.news/ph5jp
Power crisis in northern Pakistan, plagued by decades of government neglect, exacerbated by mountain tourism
- Load shedding is typical across much of fuel-short Pakistan, but few areas consistently suffer the same prolonged outages as Skardu city
- Surge in mountain tourism, driven by climbers and Pakistanis escaping heatwaves, is depleting limited energy supply at the gateway to K2
Trump cabinet pick criticizes New York’s deal to rent Pakistan’s Roosevelt Hotel for $220 million
- Vivek Ramaswamy has been picked by Trump to co-lead ‘Department of Government Efficiency’
- New York’s iconic Roosevelt Hotel was repurposed into an arrival center for migrants last year
ISLAMABAD: Vivek Ramaswamy, US President-elect Donald Trump’s choice to co-lead a new government department, on Sunday criticized a deal by the New York City government to rent the Pakistan-owned Roosevelt Hotel for a whopping $220 million for what he said were “illegal migrants.”
Cash-strapped Pakistan rented out its iconic Roosevelt Hotel to the New York City government for three years, as per an agreement reached last year.
Pakistan’s then aviation minister Khawaja Saad Rafique said that the New York administration would pay a rent of as much as $210 for each of the 1,025 rooms of the century-old hotel owned by the state-run Pakistan International Airlines (PIA).
The New York City administration has repurposed the Roosevelt Hotel as an arrival center for migrants where they can get access to vaccines, food and other resources.
“A taxpayer-funded hotel for illegal migrants is owned by the Pakistani government which means NYC taxpayers are effectively paying a foreign government to house illegals in our own country,” Ramaswamy wrote on social media platform X, responding to a post by American author John Lefevre.
“This is nuts.”
Roosevelt Hotel was closed by Pakistani authorities in October 2020 during the coronavirus pandemic, as the country’s economy weakened and the aviation sector faced significant losses.
However, the facility accumulated liabilities of around $25 million in taxes and other overheads.
Ramaswamy, a former Republican presidential candidate, will co-lead a newly created Department of Government Efficiency with billionaire Elon Musk. Trump has indicated the department will operate outside the confines of government.
Pakistan anti-terrorism court rejects Imran Khan’s bail plea in May 9 riots case
- Khan is facing charges of inciting attacks against military and government installations on May 9, 2023
- Judge notes Khan was found guilty of offenses, says found “no merits” in former premier’s bail petition
ISLAMABAD: An Anti-Terrorism Court (ATC) in Pakistan’s eastern city of Lahore this week rejected former prime minister Imran Khan’s request for bail in a case relating to nationwide riots that broke out in May 2023 after his brief detention on graft charges.
Supporters of Khan’s Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) party attacked and damaged government and military installations on May 9, 2023, after his brief arrest that day. The attacks took place a little over a year after Khan fell out with Pakistan’s powerful military, blaming the institution for colluding with his rivals to oust him from office in a parliamentary vote in April 2022. The military rejects his allegations.
Several cases against Khan and his party related to the May 9, 2023 violence were registered by the government, which also cracked down on his supporters allegedly involved in the riots. Khan’s party has distanced itself from the protests and accused the country’s intelligence agencies of framing his party for the violence. The military denies the accusations.
The ATC on Wednesday dismissed Khan’s petitions seeking post-arrest bail in eight May 9, 2023 cases, including an attack on a senior military commander’s residence. The judge had reserved the verdict in another case relating to an alleged attack on a police vehicle, which Justice Manzer Ali Gill announced on Saturday.
“Resultantly I found no merits in the bail petition in hand,” he said. “Hence the post-arrest bail of Imran Ahmad Khan Niazi stands dismissed.”
The judge noted in his written statement that Khan was not “an ordinary man,” adding that none within the PTI leadership even thinks about denying his directives. Gill said that as per police, all attacks on May 9 took place against military installations, police officials and government buildings, and that too on the same day.
The judge observed that the prosecution accused Khan of hatching a criminal conspiracy to attack government buildings and military installations.
“The offenses fall within the prohibitory clause of Section 497 of the Code of Criminal Procedure,” the judge noted. “Petitioner was found guilty.”
Khan, who remains a popular figure in Pakistan despite several court cases against him, has led a campaign of unprecedented defiance against the country’s powerful military. He also accuses the military of rigging the February 2024 polls in collusion with the election commission and his chief political rivals to keep him away from power.
The military rejects these allegations and insists it keeps away from politics.
Pakistan calls for sustainable interventions, strengthening health systems on World AIDS Day
- Around 88.4 million people in total have been affected HIV worldwide, says World Health Organization
- Pakistan PM Shehbaz Sharif resolves to expand access to essential health care services to all Pakistani citizens
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif called for strengthening health systems throughout the country and for sustainable interventions as the international community marks World AIDS Day today, Sunday.
Every year on Dec. 1, the international community marks World AIDS Day to unite people in the fight against HIV and AIDS. The day is marked to show strength and solidarity against Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) and acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), and to remember the lives lost to the disease.
HIV attacks and destroys the infection-fighting CD4 cells (CD4 T lymphocyte) of the immune system while AIDS is its most advanced form. People with HIV who are not on medication and do not have consistent control of their HIV can transmit it through sexual intercourse, sharing of needles, pregnancy and breastfeeding. If HIV is controlled, the risk of transmission is close to zero.
“By working together, we will continue to strengthen our health systems and expand access to essential services for our citizens,” Sharif said in a statement.
The Pakistani premier noted that HIV/AIDS remains a global health challenge and a significant socio-economic issue that threatens livelihoods, disrupts families and deepens inequalities.
“Despite our collective efforts, the HIV epidemic in Pakistan continues to grow, underscoring the need for bold, innovative, and sustainable interventions,” Sharif noted. “It is only through the strategy rooted in equality and inclusion that we can halt the spread of HIV.”
According to the World Health Organization (WHO), 88.4 million people have been infected with the HIV virus since the beginning of the epidemic and about 42.3 million people have died of HIV in total.
Globally, 39.9 million people were living with HIV at the end of 2023. An estimated 0.6 percent of adults aged 15–49 years worldwide are living with HIV, although the burden of the epidemic continues to vary considerably between countries and regions.
Pakistan deputy PM rejects accusations Imran Khan supporters were shot dead in protests
- Khan’s party shares death certificates allegedly of three supporters which says they were killed by gunshots
- Ishaq Dar urges PTI to provide “graves” and “dead bodies” to prove claims, accuses protesters of being violent
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan’s Deputy Prime Minister Ishaq Dar this week denied allegations the government had shot dead Imran Khan’s supporters in recent protests, as the former premier’s party alleged three of them were shot dead by law enforcers.
The PTI says at least 20 of its supporters were killed in this week’s clashes with law enforcers as thousands of Khan supporters marched toward Pakistan’s federal capital demanding Khan’s release from prison. The government rejects this and says four paramilitary personnel and a cop were killed by protesters.
On Saturday, the party shared the death certificates of three of its alleged supporters, Sardar Ali, Anees Shahzad Satii and Malik Mubeen, which said they were killed by gunshots. The certificates were prepared by the Pakistan Institute of Medical Sciences (PIMS) and Federal Government Services Hospital in Islamabad.
“Deputy Prime Minister and Foreign Minister Ishaq Dar on Saturday strongly refuted allegations of state brutality and indiscriminate firing by law enforcement authorities during recent clashes with protesters,” the state-run Associated Press of Pakistan reported.
Dar described claims that Khan supporters suffered gunshot wounds and were subjected to unwarranted violence as “malicious” and “absolutely false,” urging them to provide evidence such as “graves and dead bodies” to substantiate the accusations.
The deputy premier said protesters came to the capital armed with heavy ammunition and tear gas canisters.
“The mob was determined to create chaos and ready to kill,” he was quoted as saying by the APP. “Our security and law enforcement agencies exercised maximum restraint with patience despite deaths within their ranks.”
The protest was called off after security forces raided the D-Chowk protest site in complete darkness soon after midnight on Wednesday, firing rubber bullets and tear gas, according to police and government officials who deny using live ammunition during the operation.
Rawalpindi police said this week that over 170 cops were injured in the protests and that police have arrested over 1,150 for clashing with law enforcers.
Pakistan to lock horns with Zimbabwe in first T20I in Bulawayo today
- Pakistan beat Zimbabwe in a three-match ODI series 2-1 last month
- Salman Agha to lead Pakistan as Pakistan rest regular skipper Rizwan
ISLAMABAD: Pakistan will lock horns with Zimbabwe in the first of a three-match T20I series in Bulawayo today, Sunday, state-run media said, after completing a 2-1 ODI series victory over the hosts this week.
After losing the first ODI against Zimbabwe last month, Pakistan beat the hosts by convincing margins in the second and third ODIs in Bulawayo.
Skipper Salman Agha will lead his side in the T20 fixture against Zimbabwe on Sunday, with the next two matches to follow on Dec. 3 and 5.
“The first T20I match between Pakistan and Zimbabwe will start at 1:30 p.m. local time on Sunday,” the Pakistan Cricket Board (PCB) said in a statement on Saturday.
Pakistan announced late Friday that they were adding Saim Ayub, Aamer Jamal and Abrar Ahmed from the ODI squad into the T20I series following impressive showings over the past week.
The green shirts have rested Babar Azam, Naseem Shah and Shaheen Afridi from the tour while white-ball captain Mohammad Rizwan is also not part of the T20Is, with Agha taking his place as captain.
The match is scheduled to begin at 4:30 p.m. Pakistan Standard Time.
