Jacobabad reels under worst load-shedding as WAPDA faces shutdown protest

Jacobabad is burning under the worst load-shedding in years, with residents now facing up to 12 hours of daily power cuts and repeated tripping that has turned the city into an oven. Traders in the city shut their shops on Wednesday in a shutdown protest against WAPDA, accusing the utility of failing to deliver even the bare minimum electricity during peak summer heat.

The outages have hit every corner of Jacobabad: hospitals, homes, schools and small businesses are all struggling to cope. Patients on life-support machines, newborns in incubators, and elderly citizens with heatstroke are the most vulnerable. In the last 48 hours alone, Jacobabad Civil Hospital has treated more than 50 cases of heat exhaustion, according to hospital sources. Schools have either closed early or shifted to morning shifts to avoid the worst heat, while shops that remain open report losses of Rs 50,000–70,000 per day because of the heat and the blackouts.

WAPDA’s official load-shedding schedule for Jacobabad district shows 10–12 hours of outages daily, but residents say the actual cuts are longer and more frequent. The tripping of feeders has become routine, leaving neighborhoods without power for hours at a stretch. On Tuesday night, a major tripping incident in the Sanni Stop area cut power to more than 15,000 households for over four hours. Similar incidents were reported in Garhi Khairo and Thul areas on Wednesday morning.

What the shutdown protest demanded

- Immediate restoration of 24/7 electricity
- Compensation for traders and businesses for losses incurred
- A public inquiry into repeated tripping incidents
- Deployment of additional power crews to stabilize the grid

Traders’ bodies, including the Jacobabad Chamber of Commerce and Industry, announced the shutdown after WAPDA failed to respond to multiple complaints over the past week. “We have written to WAPDA, the Sindh Energy Department, and even the Prime Minister’s office,” said chamber president Haji Ghulam Qadir. “But no one has taken any action. We have no choice but to protest.”

WAPDA’s response: ‘Grid is overloaded’

WAPDA’s Regional Chief Engineer, Mir Muhammad Baloch, admitted that the grid in Jacobabad is overloaded due to high demand and technical faults. “We are working to restore supply, but the situation is challenging,” he told local media. He added that WAPDA has requested additional power from the national grid and is trying to repair faulty feeders, but repairs are slow due to extreme heat and limited staff.

However, residents and traders are skeptical. “WAPDA blames ‘high demand’ every summer, but the same areas face the same cuts every year,” said local resident Asif Hussain. “There is no long-term plan, only temporary fixes.”

How this compares to other cities

Jacobabad is not alone. Across Sindh, cities like Sukkur, Larkana, and Nawabshah are also reporting 8–10 hours of daily load-shedding. In Punjab, Multan and Rahim Yar Khan are facing similar crises, with reports of 10–12 hour cuts. The Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) has attributed the widespread outages to a shortfall of 6,000–7,000 MW against a demand of 28,000 MW, exacerbated by delayed payments to independent power producers (IPPs) and fuel shortages.

What you can do right now

- Check WAPDA’s official load-shedding schedule for your area at wapda.gov.pk/schedule.
- Report tripping incidents to WAPDA’s helpline: 1188.
- Use solar inverters or UPS systems to manage essential loads during outages.
- Contact your local MNA or MPA to demand action on the grid’s stability.
- Support local traders by buying from shops that remain open during protests.

What to watch next

- Thursday, 19 June 2025: Traders have called for a city-wide shutter-down if WAPDA does not restore supply by evening.
- Friday, 20 June 2025: A protest march has been planned from Jacobabad Press Club to the WAPDA office at 10:00 AM.
- Week of 23 June 2025: Sindh Energy Minister has announced a meeting with WAPDA officials to review the situation.

The crisis in Jacobabad is a microcosm of Pakistan’s broader electricity crisis: poor planning, delayed reforms, and a lack of accountability have left millions at the mercy of the heat and the dark. Without urgent action, the worst is yet to come.