Rains plunge Lahore into darkness, again

Locals says Lesco system is showing its age and cannot deal with showers

LAHORE: Over 120 distribution feeders of the power distribution company tripped due to continued rain and caused prolonged electricity outages in different areas of the provincial capital on Thursday.

The weather may have turned pleasant as the rains resulted in a drop of mercury levels, but the suspension of power supply in various neighbourhoods of Mustafabad, Baghbanpura, Daroghawala, Harbanspura, China Scheme, Shadbagh, Anarkali, Iqbal Town, Green Town, Township, Cantt and Defence caused a great inconvenience to local residents.

Citizens complained that a few hours of rain badly exposed the performance of Lahore Electricity Supply Company (LESCO). They said the aging network of the power utility company could not withstand the shower and plunged thousands of locals into darkness.

Speaking to The Express Tribune, a Lesco official said the company wanted to restore power supply at the earliest, but it could not risk the lives of line staff by directing them to fix the network in these wet conditions. In some areas, where the rain had stopped, Lesco staff had already started restoring the power supply. He hoped the power utility would be able to restore electricity to the remaining areas at the soonest.

A weather report issued by the Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) showed that a westerly wave was affecting upper parts of the country and was likely to move eastward during the next 12 to 18 hours. For Thursday night, the forecast indicated that rain/thunderstorm, with snowfall over the hills, was expected in scattered areas of Malakand, Hazara, Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Similar weather patterns would also persist in isolated areas of Peshawar, Kohat Rawalpindi, Gujranwala, Lahore and Islamabad.

The weather forecast for Friday (today) showed mainly cold and dry weather in most parts of the country. However, rain/thunderstorm, with light snowfall over the hills, is expected in isolated places in Hazara, Rawalpindi and Gujranwala divisions as well as Gilgit Baltistan and Kashmir.

The PMD weather data showed that rain, with snowfall over the hills, occurred in scattered areas of Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa, upper Punjab, Islamabad, Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir. The weather was similar in isolated areas of Quetta, Zhob, Kalat, Multan and DG Khan divisions over the last 24 hours.

Khyber Pakhtunkhwa: Dir (upper 57, lower 17), Mirkhani 53, Kalam 31, Chitral 25, Parachinar 23, Drosh 20, Malamjabba 17, Balakot 16, Pattan 14, Kakul, Saidu Sharif, Basham 13, Cherat 12, Risalpur 10, Peshawar (A/P 05, City 03), Kohat, Warsak Dam 03, Bannu, Buner 02, D.I Khan, Mohmand Dam 01.

Punjab: Lahore (A/P 30, City 22), Gujranwala 26, Sailkot (A/P 19, Cantt 16), Narowal 17, Gujrat, Hafizabad 16, Murree 15, M.B. Din 13, Kasur 12, Rawalpindi (Chaklala 12, Shamsabad 10), Joharabad 11, Islamabad (Z.P 11, Saidpur 10, Golra, Bokra 08, A/P 01), Mangla, Kamra 09, Jhelum 08, Faisalabad 07, Sargodha 03, Okara, Kot addu, Mianwali 02, Multan,  Bhakkar, T.T. Singh, Shorkot, Chakwal 01.