Nuclear power Pakistan still pleading for electrical power (An essay competition entry)

The flicker of the bulb annoys me to a suicidal brink nearly everyday when I experience the voltage fluctuations once the electricity has decided to ‘return’. It has become an everyday routine for this sixth most populous country’s nation to pray and pray for electricity to stay. As fate would have it in the jaws of poetic justice; Pakistan even though establishing itself as a nuclear power country hasn’t been able to cope much with the angry rebellion of the masses towards ‘load-shedding’. The love story of demand and supply is lost somewhere between the battle of KESC and WAPDA and tragic end of it is assured by the political instability. The blame game of this issue doesn’t seem to end; the new leaders blame the previous leaders, the previous leader blames the system and system blames the power theft.

A labor complains he doesn’t have electricity to run his shop. If he doesn’t earn daily who will keep food on his kids’ table? The factory owners are annoyed because their work is on hold since the heavy machineries can’t run without electricity and when break-even of the profit doesn’t meet, workers are out of their jobs. Hospitals and doctors are skirting around on the issue of timings of operation. Students in examinations are sweating to their elbows. Educational Institutions are also on their knees to power up their classrooms. Everybody demands his share of power since he claims or is paying for it. The ‘aam admi’ is battling against the ever rising utility bills. Over all system in short of electricity is a system fractured and due to this the economy is taking a downward spiral.

According to Saqib Idrees Taj Pakistan current power demand is more than 22000 MW and it is rising 8% annually, Pakistan has total installed power generation capacity of 20,456 MW. However, dependable or de-rated capacity is in the range of 14,000 to 16,000 MW^[1] . Vaguely speaking it means we are 31% short. This shortage has to led to the passive annoyance of load shedding, riots, public demonstrations, executives being fired and hurling accusations on talk shows, hospitals and industries being greatly hampered and overall bringing the quality of life drastically down.

According to the ever popular Wiki we are the 7^th nuclear power state with 2.4% of electricity being produced by nuclear energy. Of 19,505 MW electricity produced in Pakistan 462 MW is nuclear. This amounts to 2% of the production by two active reactors. The third reactor Chashma-2 however is caught up in the issue of global security as we ‘threaten’ the other countries since Pakistan isn’t a member of Non-Proliferation treaty still the reactor is expected to kick start in 2011. Although if the future depends on nuclear energy solely it might not be that promising since West tactfully holds the exchange of material and technical assistance Pakistan needs away from us until we don’t sign the treaty. Pakistan for long has been dependant on hydro-power but construction for new dams is muddled in conspiracy theories. The questions to pose here however are why when we were able to turn Project-706 fruitful can we not solve the energy crisis? Can we not utilize alternative resources to meet up the cent percent mark? Don’t we have the resources one needs to get out of this crisis? Can’t we balance this equation of supply and demand?

The answers to above questions are we do and we can. Pakistan’s good fortune lays in black diamond we call coal. Blessed as we are, Pakistan approximately has 184,123 million tones only in Sindh itself ^[2]. The deposits of coal at Thar is said to produce 100,000MW for 300years straight ^[3]. Pakistan’s coal by its nature has a damp-moisture quality to it which is needed by the new technology to convert coal to electricity. It’s the cheapest answer to our problems. Fortunately Dr. Mubarakmand has decided to tap into this potential solution.

Who can ignore the sun in the country like Pakistan? Where ten out of twelve months the sun is shining down on us with vengeance. Then why not use it for our own good? The photovoltaic solar panels can be the other answer to our prayers. Yes although this project is expensive but it’s a one-time investment it is bound to return fruits in the long years. Due to fiscal constraints importing the solar panels would be tough. Instead Pakistan could manufacture these by itself since silica, quartz and plenty manpower is available here.

Pakistan coastal line runs 2,599km ^[4]. Of which the 170km of creek system Indus Delta which can produce 1100KW Power ^[5]. Government should set up necessary turbines for this energy conservation and the bio-gas is also one of the advisable solutions since it can work on very low bases of getting electricity out of animal manure, wood chops and agricultural waste. This could possibly work to light up small villages.

The problem compared to the solutions we have isn’t outrageous as it is depicted to be. But it will become more outrageous if nothing is done soon. The government needs to understand the importance of our resources and use them economically to satisfy the masses. We say ‘God bless the sacred land’ and we don’t realize how blessed we already are. Un-tapped potential of Pakistan can alter its whole image once looked into. The bigger picture though blurry can be seen if and only if we get ourselves on track now by excavating the resources.

Things only will be better if we wake up and harness the change for we are the only hope for the future – together.

(Word Count: 950 words)

REFERENCES:

1.http://www.insaf.pk/Media/InsafBlog/tabid/168/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/3963 /How-to-cope-with-energy-crisis-by-Saqib-Idrees-Taj.aspx

2. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pakistan_Coal_Mines_and_Resources

3. http://www.opfblog.com/2372/coal-power-generation-in-pakistan/

4. http://earthtrends.wri.org/pdf_library/cp/coa_cou_586.pdf

5. http://www.slideshare.net/ieeepkhi/tidal-energy-by-majida-islam-presentation

To my countrymen, with love

To my countrymen,

To the flood victims, plane crash victims and sufferers of recent city violence. I don’t know what it feels like to stand in shoulder length water and not feel your legs. I don’t know what it is like to be marooned out of your houses and leave everything behind. I don’t know what its like to be terrorized in your own home. I don’t know what its like to lose a son. I will not pity you - you are in my prayers.

As 14^th August 2010 draws near people have mixed feelings. Some are fine sitting at home watching news on television, while some are being the news that is broadcasted. Kids while not screaming in the rain are hanging out ‘jhandiyaans’ and flags in the whole mohalla. Today when it rained my mother unfortunately handed me the viper and asked me to clean out the car porch. When I was unhappily applying myself to her request I saw many ‘jhandiyaan’ being strewn across the road and some were flowing in the puddles of water. Years of training led me to instinctively move to pick them up. I had to walk into ankle deep water, get myself soaked in the rain to sieve all of them out. Meanwhile a group of young ‘mohallay ke bachay’ were looking at me in awe. A short maybe 8years old one with a huge grin asked me “Appi app yeh kyun utha rahi hain?’. I looked at him and said ‘Kyun key ye jhandiyaan hain’. The kids giggled as if sharing an inside joke. Then another said ‘Tou kiya howa? Ab yeh gir gayeen to gir gayeen’. I asked ‘School mein flag hai?’ They all nodded. Then I said ‘Woh pole pe laga hai ya zameen pe?’

Then as if a revelation dawned across their faces they helped me picked up all the jhandiyaan. They kind of went an extra level when they promised me they’d dry it all and put all of them back up. So to the kids of my country. Learn to respect your flag and national anthem that’s your first step towards patriotism.

To the farmers, labors, blacksmiths of my country. I don’t know what its like to stand in the field all day, or bake bricks in the scorching sun. I don’t know what its like to see your fields eroded by the flood and hope of harvest die - I thank you. I thank you for the food I can see on my table and for the house I can live in.

To the brave men of my country who protect its borders everyday, who keep the enemy at bay so I can sleep blissfully at night. I don’t know what its like to live away from your families and friends. I don’t know what its like to leave your home and enlist yourself to serve. Keeping my seas, and lands and air free from threat. I don’t know what its like to feel the honor of sacrificing your life - I salute you.

To the youth of my country who are the tomorrow. Take a good look at yourself and the people around you. Your class fellows, mates, gym friends and just the young generation. Try to look beyond what you see. Don’t judge people on face value. If you learn to stop stereotyping people maybe Pakistan has hope. Because I know we learn to place people in different tags from school to college transition period. Look beyond the tags of Mahajir, Pathan, Balochi, Sindhi, Punjabi, Sunni, Shia-ites. Not everybody is the same. Stop tagging people and learn to tolerate. Stop making generalizing comments. Differences are good. Diversity is what makes the Pakistani culture so rich. So treasure it. If you and I don’t respect Pakistan today with all it aspects there will be nothing left. Learn to defend your country for what its worth. Stop complaining, grumbling and criticizing. It’s high time that you ask yourself what you did for Pakistan anyway else then blatantly demanding your right only. If you are the future so you better get working for the better tomorrow today. Your passion and spirit is what is needed to rebuilt. You are the leaders of tomorrow – I admire you.

To all my countrymen who call themselves Pakistanis, who live in this rich cultural scenic landscape or just posses a green passport. Don’t give up hope. This is our country and we are answerable for its condition. They can take away everything from me and threaten my peace they still can’t take away my spirit from me for I have not been born in this land but I hope to die in it. I am one of you. I am a Pakistani. Who is after all Pakistan? You and I is what makes Pakistan. Hence whatever we do is reflected in our country’s name. So hold your head up high amidst these miseries and unite. You have my prayers, my sympathy, my hope and my spirits – I am you.

Love,

Anam Ashraf Ali

To Save a Life..

We watch television, we watch the news being played on and on about genocide, WMD, suicides, bomb blasts and what not. Some of us take the second look to the total number of people killed. It’s like a toll race… ‘yaar 40 hogayee subha tak tou 35 thay’. We become so indifferent to the gore images being played on the TV like we never felt anything. As if sympathy is dead, as if humanity never touched us. Why? Why can we look at people killing each other, riots and public property burning and our remorse only goes as far as the clip running on the television? Why is it very easy to feel comfort in ‘ab tou kal chuti hogi’ statement? There are some who say ‘Don’t feel bad about things you have no control over’. Okay yes, maybe to some extent we don’t have control over this but when was the last time we helped to save a life? When was the last time you tried to befriend somebody you didn’t know? Bring an outsider in your circle. Help somebody cross the road. Volunteer at a hospital? Did you try to save a life? Did you try to solve maybe somebody’s problem? May be just your own even for that matter or for you life is copying lecture notes, fighting for the front desk, 9-5 job and a goodnight sleep at the end. Do grades and money really matter if you don’t posses an ounce of humanity?

I sometimes wonder why if there are religions and literacy people act like animals. Maybe we are gone so far beyond that nothing is worth salvaging. But when and how did we get to this point? Does a kid pick it at school? Is it in the gene? Is it what television preaches? Why over the passage of time all of us confine ourselves in are cocoons refusing to come out. In fact it’s not even refusing it is not even knowing that we walled our own selves against some unparallel force of hurt, despair, damage. Some untamed energy we are so afraid of that we don’t want to face it. Why? Because world will judge us? Because they will tell us that you don’t fit the ‘cool’ bill? Is all of this worth it if when you die people will remember you by the shiny red Chevy you drove or the amount of your paycheck maybe even your big glass bungalow? We are like the six year old who puts his fingers in his ear and refuses to listen. We are just the same. Then how do we expect to save lives if we refuse to reach out and help. We all can go on and on about 'bringing the change' and 'being the change' as if its bottle of multi-vitamins .. we eat one and Ta-dah you have changed. You want to bring change? ... why don't you start with yourself first.

When I was thirteen I learned that I could talk it up. Later I knew I was good with words. Then I did what I liked. I talked to people on and on about their problems, dreams, hopes and ambitions. I befriended many people that way. Some would come to me with problems and some to I went with mine. It was and still is a two way street - they helped me figure things out for me I helped them sort their issues out. I made sense of lives for many guys and girls I know. I actually talk a lot about myself to my cousins and it always has helped me. My course of action was simple. I wasn’t volunteering anywhere; neither did I enlist myself for some specific society to bring change. My plan of action was to simply talk and sometimes maybe write too.

This is how I choose to save lives.