KABUL (SW) – The rampant electricity break downs and irregular cutting of connections by the power utility have caused concerns among Kabul residents.
A number of residents in the capital have complained of irregular power outages, saying that irregular power outages have increased recently. They added that they often have no electricity for days.
“We did not have electricity, we had to install a solar power plant for the house,” said Javad, a resident of Kabul. “Electricity supply is very irregular, we do not know when it is available and when it is not,” said Rahimullah, another Kabul resident.
Meanwhile, a former official of the power utility, Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat, who did not want to be named, said the main problem with the power outage was lack of enough electricity, a 30 percent increase in electricity subscribers, electricity distribution to seven more provinces this year and the government’s added use of electricity.
According to the former DABS official, another reason for the lack of electricity was the shutdown of the Arghandi junction, which was 90 percent complete, but with the rise to power of the Islamic Emirate of Afghanistan, its work has stopped.
However, Mohammad Islam Katavazi, DABS’s vice president of operations, has said that although the company is facing a 50 percent shortage of electricity, electricity use has also increased in winter still the supply in Kabul is regular.
Katawazi added that Kabul needs 650 to 700 megawatts of electricity, but imported electricity is only about 330 megawatts. The DABS’s deputy chief of operations also said that the completion of the Arghandi junction would solve the electricity problem in Kabul and some other provinces.
ENDS
