ISLAMABAD: The government in Pakistan’s southern Sindh province on Friday ordered all commercial markets to close by 9pm as part of measures to conserve energy amid prolonged outages across the South Asian country.
Pakistani cities have been witnessing planned power outages for several hours during a day, owing to an electricity shortfall in the country.
Extreme heatwaves that scorched Pakistan and India in recent weeks further aggravated the situation and prompted authorities to take drastic measures to reduce the power shortfall.
On Friday, the Sindh government announced limiting business hours for markets and business centers as well as hotels, restaurants and cafes.
“All the Markets, Bazars, Shops and Shopping Malls shall be closed by 9:00 PM (Except Medical Stores, Pharmacies, Hospitals, Petrol Pumps, CNG stations, Bakeries and Milk Shops),” the Sindh home department said in a notification.
It said weddings in halls and banquets could continue until 10:30pm, while hotels, restaurants, coffee shops and cafes would be closed by 11pm.
The notification said it was necessary to enforce the restrictions to control the increasing gap between power generation and utilization, which could have “long-term and multi-sectoral impacts on lives of the general public of the Sindh province.”
The home department directed police to register any complaints over the violation of the orders under Section 188 of the Pakistan Penal Code, which relates to “disobedience to an order lawfully promulgated by a public servant.”
