Safety Culture and Electricity Cuts
June 21, 2009
Bismillah alhamdulillah.
Safety culture
The concept of road safety still does not seem to be widely practiced, with pavilion passengers on motorbikes, ladies perched precariously though seemingly well adept at this balancing act behind motorcyclists.
Safety in the developing world are not a priority and seldom maintained by the responsible authorities with individual efforts to provide a degree of protection. I came across these wires which looked as if they were live. On inquiring I found 
out that they were actually live, they were approximately two metres away from a balcony with a flimsy insulation placed over them by some individual doing his good Samaritan’s duty.
Electricity cuts
Electricity cuts are a frequent occurrence during the day. It is known as ‘load shedding’, electricity is cut off for around an hour at a time in different zones and this is rotated around the city as the day passes. The first sign that a load shedding moment has arrived is the silence. The ever whirring ceiling fans and their deafening din to which all locals seem oblivious to lessens and finally stops. To myself it comes as a relief and sometimes I feel I would rather trade the oppressive heat for the relative silence of an electricity free moment.
But the silence is soon punctured a few minutes later as the electrical Honda petrol generators which are widely distributed throughout villas are switched on and emergency lights, fridges and ceiling fans restart their incessant whirring. The generators are also adapted by some to run off natural gas which flows in copious amounts and at cheap rates throughout Pakistan which its origins in Quetta. An adapting device can be purchased for around 1500 RS. The gas is piped and constant in supply. On inquiring about the relative cost per unit between gas and electricity from the mains I was surprised to be told that gas generated electricity is 1 RS / unit while electricity supplied by the main electricity board is 10 RS / unit. It seems that the main electricity companies are still generating electricity by burning diesel and vested interests have not resulted in a change in the method of generating electricity.
Generator power is measured in KVAs, a 2.5 KVAs generator is enough to run 3 ceiling fans, lighting for three rooms and 1 freezer. The cost of a 2.5KVAs generator is around 40,000 RS. A 5 KV generator (priced at 129,500 RS) is enough to support Air Conditioning equipment and you can even buy 10-20 KVAs generators which are about the size of a small freezer unit.
Posters reveal the love-hate relationship that the Pakistani population seem to have with the United States. While posters and popular feeling is anti-American the desire for the American creature comforts, way of life and education is insatiable. A day ago I met a family who will be relocating to the USA as all their children bar one have migrated. They feel isolated in their home country and are looking forward to a new future in the ‘promised land’. 
It’s early morning as I mull over my first impressions when I am greeted by the braying of a donkey, it sounds as if it is in quite a lot of distress, but then again I am not familiar with donkey customs and habits. I search for the source of the noise and find a prosaic picture of a donkey standing under a tree with cart attached to its back. Forms of transport are multiple, from hand pushed carts to diesel, natural gas and animal powered means of transport.
Entry Filed under: Pakistan. .
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