The public commotion is understandable as the month of Ramadan is into its first week, the Hindu community is celebrating Durga Puja, and Eid-ul-Fitr is less than four weeks away. The power supply authorities had announced earlier that the supply situation would be steadied before the two festivals, but in reality the frequency of outage has only increased.

The supply shortfall, amounting to 1000 megawatts per day, has a lot to do with the fact that production at 14 power generation stations is suspended at the moment. Five of these 14 stations are expected to resume production by October 15, which will help matters improve slightly. The power authorities should make sure that the improvement takes place according to the schedule, and take the necessary measures for resuming production in nine other stations as well.

Load-shedding is a chronic problem that has had a crippling effect on every sector of our national life. The FDI inflow into the country has increased, but the investors can only feel frustrated if the country fails to meet the basic requirements of industries. The productivity in mills and factories suffers badly due to erratic power supply, and so does trade and commerce, let alone pursuit of education by millions of students.

The public outcry is a ringing indictment on the poor management of the vital power sector where addition of capacity remains as elusive as ever. The decision-makers should treat the issue with the seriousness it deserves in order that the citizens are rescued from the desperate situation they are reeling under.