SUKKUR:
All the cities and towns of upper Sindh and some parts of Balochistan were plunged into darkness for more than 15 hours from late Friday evening following a major fault in the Guddu Thermal Power Station.
On the night between Friday and Saturday, power supply to the entire upper Sindh was disrupted at around 12:40am due to the fault, according to officials of the Sukkur Electric Power Company (Sepco). Four units were shut as a result of the fault.
Areas affected include Sukkur, Ghotki, Khairpur, Shikarpur, Jacobabad, Kashmore-Kandhkot, Naushahro Feroze, Larkana, Kamber-Shahdadkot and Dadu. Due to the prolonged power breakdown, people had to face severe water shortage and many hospitals were compelled to postpone scheduled operations. Generators stopped after running for long hours and people were forced to sit and wait for power restoration.
An official of the Power Distribution Centre, Sukkur, told The Express Tribune that a high-tension transmission line of 132 kilovolts (KV) from the Guddu Thermal Power Station had tripped due to heavy fog.
However, an official of the Guddu Thermal Power Station control room denied that a fault had occurred in the power station. He agreed that the transmission line had tripped due to heavy fog but added that no units had been shut.
Sepco public relations officer Noor Ahmed Soomro also confirmed the tripping of the transmission line. He added that power supply to some parts was restored at around 12 noon on Saturday, while many areas are still plunged into darkness.
Published in The Express Tribune, December 21st, 2014.
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