Lights out: AJK paralysed by unscheduled power cuts

Outages began late Wednesday and continued well into Thursday.

MIRPUR: After several hours of unscheduled power outages, life in Azad Jammu and Kashmir has come to a virtual standstill, with residents unable to perform even some of the most basic tasks.

The power outages began late on Wednesday and continued well into Thursday, forcing economic activity particularly in the region’s hub of Mirpur to come to a grinding halt. Despite repeated attempts by The Express Tribune to contact the State Electricity Department, the Water and Power Development Authority chief engineer’s office or Wapda’s spokesperson, no official seemed to be available to comment on why one of the region’s most populous district was suddenly without power for seemingly an indefinite period of time.

Sources blamed the outage on the fact that much of the hydroelectric power generation in Pakistan has been shut down due to the annual cleaning of the canal system, while thermal power generation units were operating far below capacity owing to reduced oil supplies because of the circular debt problems.

The electricity department, meanwhile, is reported to have sent a letter to the Mirpur district administration stating that the prolonged power outages may cause agitation and possible civil unrest in the area.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 13^th, 2012.