Islamabad administration decides to limit operational hours of markets, shopping malls, wedding halls & restaurants
ISLAMABAD, June 19 (SABAH): Following in the footsteps of Sindh and Punjab, Islamabad administration has also decided to limit the operational hours of markets, shopping malls, wedding halls and restaurants in an effort to tackle the current energy crisis.
Islamabad Deputy Commissioner Irfan Nawaz Memon shared the notification on Twitter early on Sunday.
A notification issued for this stated that Section 144 of Pakistan Penal Code will be implemented in Islamabad.
The order stated that all shops, shopping malls, bakeries and confectionaries, offices, storerooms, godowns, warehouses and cattle markets would close at 9pm. Further, the timings of marriage halls, marquees and exhibition halls would be limited to 10:00pm.
All establishments (commercial or industrial), restaurants, clubs, tandoors, eateries, cafes, cinemas, theatres or other places of public amusement and public parks would close at 11:30pm, it added.
However, hospitals and laboratories, clinics, pharmacies and medical stores, petrol pumps, milk shops and other essential businesses were exempt from following the timings.
The notification, which also detailed the reasons for the move, stated that the order would come into force “with immediate effect” and would remain in place for two months.
The DC noted that the electricity demand had increased as a result of the current hot weather the country was experiencing which was subjecting critical infrastructure to extended load shedding.
The notification stated that it was “necessary to enforce certain restrictions on non-essential businesses so that this prevalent emergency of the energy shortfall may be controlled in Islamabad Capital Territory”.
Chief Minister Punjab Mian Muhammad Hamza Shahbaz on Saturday announced that markets across the province would close at 9pm as the government seeks to conserve energy following a power crisis hitting the country.
The chief minister made the announcement during a meeting with representatives from trade associations, according to an official post-meeting statement.
A day earlier, the Sindh government announced that markets across the province will shut down at 9pm to save electricity as the country witnesses constant power outages.
The measure, which will remain in effect till July 16, is in response to the prevalent outages, and load shedding of the electricity and seeks to reduce the shortfall between the supply and demand of electricity, according to the notification.
The coalition government has already declared that such measures were required in the wake of the prevalent power outages and loadshedding to reduce the shortfall between demand and supply of electricity.
The federal cabinet had on June 7 decided to take effective measures to reduce loadshedding by conserving energy and prevent and minimise the impacts of anticipated energy shortfall in the country through a national strategy.