Winter chill comes as a blessing amid outage

Like elsewhere in the country, Peshawar and Quetta residents also endured the fallout of countrywide electricity breakdown on Monday.

Life was nearly crippled because of power outage all day long, forcing people to run their private generators on petrol and gas to meet their needs.

It was no small mercy that the major breakdown happened in the winter chill when the need to run air-conditioners and fans is no more.

According to Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO), the two transmission lines from Guddu to Quetta tripped.

It added that 22 districts of Balochistan, including Quetta, were without power. 

Meanwhile, while talking to a private channel, Minister for Power Division Engineer Khurram Dastagir Khan said that the breakdown was not "major".

"In winter, the demand for electricity reduces nationwide, hence, as an economic measure, we temporarily close down our power generation systems at night.

However, when the systems were turned on in the morning on Monday, frequency variation and voltage fluctuation was observed in the south of the country - somewhere between Dadu and Jamshoro because of which power generating unts shut down on by one," he said.

On the other hand, Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO) on Monday notified power suspension from various grids of the province due to unavoidable maintenance work on January 24 and 25.

Power supply would remain suspended from 220 KV Shahi Bagh Grid Station on January 24 and 25 from 8AM to 4PM,l oad management would be carried out on 132 KV Shahi Bagh, Wapda House, Peshawar Fort grid connected 11 KV feeders.

While power supply would remain suspended from 132 KV D.Khan Grid Station on January 24 from 9:30 AM to 3:30 PM, resultantly consumers of 132 KV Kulachi, Tank, Gomal Zam Dam Power House grid connected 11 KV feeders would face inconvenience.

Electricity would remain suspended from 132 KV Temargara-Munda Jandool Grid Station on January 24 from 10 AM to 3 PM, resultantly consumers of 132 KV Munda Jandool grid connected 11 KV feeders would face inconvenience.

132 KV Hattian Grid Station would remain suspended from 10 AM to 3PM, resultantly consumers of 132 KV Munda Jandool grid connected 11 KV feeders would face inconvenience, the notification read.