Islamabad, March 20 (IANS) Pakistan faces a staggering 4,500 MW power shortfall, leading to outages of up to 16 hours in rural areas.

On Friday, the Pakistan Electric Power Company (PEPCO) said that the total demand was for 13,026 MW, while only 9,426 MW could be supplied across the country.

The gap between demand and supply could rise due to water shortage in reservoirs and this would severely affect consumers, The News Saturday quoting a source in PEPCO as saying.

While PEPCO claims that the outages last only 5-8 hours, the actual duration in urban areas is 8-10 hours while it is 14-16 hours in rural areas, The News said.

PEPCO sources said there was no getting away from unannounced outages.

The industrial sector is near its closure owing to the acute power shortage. Several factories have stopped one shift.