Two weekly offs, early shops closure to continue till Oct 31

ISLAMABAD: A meeting on energy conservation presided over by Prime Minister Syed Yusuf Raza Gilani on Tuesday decided to keep the practice of observing two weekly offs and closure of shops by 8 pm for another three months till October 31. The Prime Minsiter told the meeting held here at PM Secretariat that 1500 MW electricity was saved by closure of shops by 8 PM while two weekly offs further helped in conserving 500 MW power. He said 150 million dollars were saved as a result of reduction in operational cost. He directed that no load-shedding be undertaken during Sehr and Iftar in the holy month of Ramazan. The Premier said 1708 MW electricity has so far been added to the national grid during the current year while 2000 MW more will be brought on line by the year end. He pointed out that a number of challenges are being faced in bridging the demand-supply gap. Our economy suffered huge losses due to energy crisis in the country while the people had to endure torture of prolonged load-shedding, he added.