KARACHI, Pakistan (UCAN) -- A candlelight dinner might conjure images of a cozy evening, but in Pakistan these days it probably just means the power is out.

"Blackouts have disrupted life, especially at night. One either lies indoors in hot, humid rooms, or outside in the company of mosquitoes," says Francis Alfred, a Catholic in Karachi, 1,150 kilometers southwest of Islamabad.

Summer temperatures, which often pass 40 degrees Celsius, are adding to the discomfort of Pakistan's worst electricity shortage, with supply falling far short of demand. Fans and air conditioners lie idle, babies suffer from dehydration, hospitals perform surgery without electricity, and crossing the road or driving becomes dangerous at night, when traffic lights disappear into the darkness.

Karachi, Pakistan's largest city, records up to 14 hours without electricity daily, local media report, more than the national average of about 10 hours.

In Lahore, Pakistan's second-largest city, 270 kilometers southeast of Islamabad, a fourth-grade teacher at St. Mary's School told UCA News children have fainted in school because of the heat. "It is very difficult to educate little children with no fans," she said.

The government, which acknowledges the need for a long-term solution to a crisis it blames on it predecessor, has implemented some short-term emergency measures for now. These include turning off half the streetlights, cutting power to billboards and closing markets early or changing their weekly day off from Sunday to Friday. It even advanced the standard time by an hour.

Such measures have not gone down well with the public. Traders and shopkeepers keep their shops open on Fridays and allege that early closures adversely affect their business. They also complain that posh localities do not implement early closures.

Meanwhile, the "new time" -- advancing the clock by an hour as May 31 changed to June 1 -- has caused confusion in a country that has always kept the same time summer or winter.

Alfred, 76, who says he has attended Sunday Mass every single week since his retirement, lamented that he missed half the liturgy on June 1. "When I reached Our Lady of Lourdes Church, traveling 15 kilometers in the hot sun, the sermon was over," he told UCA News.

Mosques, however, which announce ajan, the call to prayer, five times a day, remained mostly unaffected, refusing to accept the government's new time, according to Father Arthur Charles, vicar general of Karachi archdiocese.

Father Thomas Gulfam, parish priest of St. James Parish in Karachi, reported "about 180 instead of the 500 regular Massgoers attended Mass that Sunday (June 1) due to the confusion."

In light of the power cuts, the priest said, his parish plans to buy a generator to avoid "disturbances" during Mass. "It is impossible to do anything without electricity. I cannot even pray in the chapel due to the humidity," he commented.

Alfred pointed out, however, that most people cannot buy an uninterruptible power supply unit or a generator, because prices for these have climbed several thousand rupees in the past few months due to popular demand.

Ghazanfar Ali Shah, office superintendent at the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation's customer service center, explained to UCA News: "Every year there demand increases by 600 megawatts in a single locality in Karachi alone. We are trying our best to help our customers but are helpless until the government initiates new projects."

Among medium- and long-term responses, the government has announced plans to purchase 10 million energy-efficient light bulbs, import 1,100 megawatts of electricity from Iran and commence work on hydropower projects.

The present federal coalition, which came to power following a general election in February, charges the previous government did not take any measures to increase power production during the past eight years.

Father Charles told UCA News that for now, besides decreeing various short-term measures to ease the crisis, the government must also "lead the public through good example instead of indifference and discrimination."

People complain the government instructs them to keep their air conditioners turned off, while government offices in Islamabad run air-conditioners almost all day, except for a few hours in the morning. Likewise, they cite reports of streetlights in the capital remaining on during the day.

END