ISLAMABAD: Quaid-i-Azam University (QAU) Registrar Raja Qaisar Ahmed on Saturday requested Iesco to exempt the university from loadshedding as it was disturbing its research activities.

Raja Qaisar Ahmed in a tweet said: “Quaid-i-Azam University has written a letter to Iesco Official, requesting him to exempt the university from loadshedding. The academic, research activity and lab operations of the premier varsity are adversely impacted in the backdrop of ongoing loadshedding.”

The QAU director works also wrote a letter to Iesco in which he said since QAU was an academic and research institution and a top ranked university of Pakistan, the loadshedding is disturbing its academic activities.

“This distinctive position of the university is due to outstanding achievement and performance in academic and research fields. In achieving this high ranking globally, your [Iesco] departmental support and cooperation in providing smooth electricity has always played essential role,” read the letter.

It stated that university has been paying its total dues and bills within due date every month.

The university has an independent feeder from Bhara Kahu Grid Station with shortest length on which line losses are also negligible. Hence, this feeder should not be treated like common domestic feeder.

“It is humbly requested to kindly review the load shedding on QAU feeder so that academic and research activities of the university may not be interrupted,” read the letter.

QAU is one of the largest universities of the country, which offers BS programme, Masters degree programme, M.Phil and P.hd programmes, therefore, numbers of students use university’s labs as well.

Speaking to Dawn, the QAU registrar said as per Iesco’s schedule the university faced six hours load shedding from 7am to 8am, 10am to 11am 1pm to 2pm, 4pm to 5pm, 1am to 2am and 4am to 5am.

“Some time our researcher need minus 80 degree centigrade temperature for experiment and due to load shedding they face difficulty in maintaining required temperature,” he said and requested Iesco to exempt the university from load shedding.

To a query, he said that university has no backup mechanism to handle electricity loadshedding.

“Since we are getting electricity from Iesco in accordance with market rate and paying them regularly, therefore, we are hopeful they will exempt the university from load shedding,” the registrar said.

Published in Dawn, May 29th, 2022