Pakistan’s economy has hit rock bottom, leaving its citizens struggling to meet basic needs such as food and energy. After videos and images of Pakistanis going to extreme lengths for 1 kg of flour went viral on social media, the people of Pakistan have turned to Twitter to voice their woes as a nationwide power outage left almost all regions without electricity on Monday.
Power failed across Pakistan on Monday (January 23) morning after a breakdown in its national grid. Power was out in all major cities including Karachi, Islamabad, Quetta, Lahore and Peshawar.
According to a statement from Pakistan’s Ministry of Energy, the national grid’s frequency fell at about 7:34 am, causing a “widespread disruption” in the energy system.
ابتدائی اطلاعات کے مطابق آج صبح 7:34 پر نیشنل گرڈ کی سسٹم فریکوئنسی کم ہوئ جس سے بجلی کے نظام میں وسیع بریک ڈاؤن ہوا
— Ministry of Energy (@MoWP15) January 23, 2023
سسٹم کی بحالی پر کام تیزی سےجاری ہے
According to local officials, the outage began in southern Sindh Province due to an unexpected power fluctuation. According to Khurram Dastgir Khan, the energy minister, this caused a chain reaction of failures at power plants around the country.
The disruption affected over 117 grid stations in Islamabad. The Islamabad Electric Supply Company’s spokesperson stated that electricity was being restored in a phased manner.
As the country plunged into darkness, Pakistanis resorted to Twitter to vent their frustrations. With no sign of relief in sight, Pakistani users began using the hashtag #ElectricityShutDown to share their misery in their own country. ‘Welcome to Purana Pakistan’ also started trending on Twitter.
One Twitter user Abdul Latif Mehsood shared an image of how he lit the tail lamp of his bike to lighten his otherwise pitch-dark residence due to the power outage in Pakistan.
Situation in our home #ElectricityShutDown pic.twitter.com/QC8o52VSA2
— Abdul Latif Mehsood (@latif_mehsood) January 23, 2023
“True facts of the nation #ElectricityShutDown,” tweeted another frustrated Pakistani user, highlighting the crisis-hit nation’s worsening conditions.
True facts of the nation #ElectricityShutDown pic.twitter.com/NxslakDHTt
— Abdullah Shakeel (@abdullah8679158) January 23, 2023
People in Pakistan shared videos of how the power outage was affecting daily lives. Orange train service has stopped, trains halted at places in Beach track, and passengers were trapped inside the train, a Twitter user claimed. Another video showed people walking on the track on foot.
Orange Train Line #Lahore shutdown it’s operation in a way due to #poweroutage.
— Chaudhary Parvez (@ChaudharyParvez) January 23, 2023
shutdown the train in the middle, people are seen walking on the track on foot.#Pakistan #Blackout #Lahore pic.twitter.com/P6gGvdtgEA
As large swathes of the country continued to face power cuts, several other Pakistani social media users took to Twitter to vent out their frustration, cloaked in humour.
The people who are awaking with the battery percentage of only 10% #poweroutage pic.twitter.com/YyyZeCOFPT
— Ehtisham Siddique (@iMShami_) January 23, 2023
#poweroutage
— Zain Ali (@theycallme_jutt) January 23, 2023
People whose phone battery
90% charged. 20% charged pic.twitter.com/RVVNfz1BFe
Many Pakistani Netizens posted funny memes with the ‘Welcome Back to Purana Pakistan’ jibe, which Pakistan opposition leader Bilawal Bhutto used after Imran Khan’s removal as Prime Minister after losing the no-trust vote in 2022, to get through the blackout.
No light. No charge. No UPS. No water. No WiFi
— Amina Zubair (@amnakhani123) January 23, 2023
Welcome to Purana Pakistan
No light. No charge. No UPS. No water. No WiFi
— | ᗰᗩᗪᗪY | ♥️{ عشق ممنوع }💫 (@Dead_rose0913) January 23, 2023
Welcome to Purana Pakistan🤦🏻#nolight pic.twitter.com/20LHyAETPB
Some irate users also shared videos of how Pakistan slipped into an acute crisis with frustrated citizens killing each other for basic needs such as food and energy.
A shopkeeper was shot dead in Karachi by 2 men who tried to loot food grains from his shop. Heavy shortage of Food & Water amid #ElectricityShutDown reported in all major cities of Pakistan. People have started killing each other due to starvation. The administration has Failed. pic.twitter.com/GcTDSmFfiL
— Pak Mujahideen 🇵🇰 (@pakmujaheed) January 23, 2023
During the power outage, videos illustrating Pakistan’s perilous status flooded Twitter with citizens opining that the country is on the verge of civil war.
I don’t want to sound pessimistic but sir sarim is telling the truth. Leave Pakistan if you can. This country is going down and you won’t have the guts to survive breakdown of law and order, civil war and anarchy. Leave and take your family out of here as well asap. https://t.co/OyAYxc2kbu
— Awais Tarar (@khojwithdrawais) January 23, 2023
Now civil war will begin. Until pppl all over pakistan stay on road until free happen elections until then. No petrol,food,light,water,job,money in coming days
— Maryam Khan (@MarKhan22) January 23, 2023
Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf leader and former human rights minister Shireen Mazari slammed the government, saying that the “incompetent cabal of crooks” was bringing the country down.
Major power breakdown in Federal Capital since early morning but am told it may be far beyond just Islamabad. Anyone know the situation? Incompetent cabal of crooks bringing the country down while they save their looted wealth abroad! This is what Conspirators wanted?
— Shireen Mazari (@ShireenMazari1) January 23, 2023
Economic crisis hits rock bottom in Pakistan
Undoubtedly, Pakistan has been experiencing its worst economic crisis amidst food shortages, flash floods, and poverty. According to the State Bank, Pakistan’s foreign exchange reserves last week dropped to $4.3 billion, the lowest level since February 2014.
A cash-strapped and desperate Pakistan in a bid to revive the long-awaited International Monetary Fund (IMF) bailout programme has agreed to accept all the conditions laid down by the IMF. Islamabad has also requested the IMF to send its mission to conclude the USD 6 Billion bailout programme which was initially agreed upon in 2019. It is, however, highly unlikely that the IMF would release the funds, at least not till the Pakistani government fulfils its pledges.
Other than this, Pakistan, which was declared South Asia’s weakest economy by a report is also hit by a severe food crisis. The situation in several cities of Pakistan is so dire that flour is being rationed and guarded by armed guards. Prices of flour and wheat have witnessed a dramatic surge.
The desperate situation has triggered chaos and some clashes among people were also seen in various parts of the country in the past few days.
Now this massive power outage, which has affected all major cities including Karachi, Islamabad, Lahore, and Peshawar, has only exacerbated the country’s existing problems.
