Destroying Infrastructure: Electric tower blown up, supply disrupted

SHABQADAR: A power supply tower was blown up by unidentified people in the Chalmari area of Shabqadar on Thursday night, disrupting the supply to Mohmand Agency.

SHO of the Sro Kali police station told The Express Tribune that four wheels of the tower were damaged. The bomb disposal squad said that six kilogrammes of explosives were used in four blasts that occurred simultaneously.

The sub-divisional officer of Tesco, Muhammad Ikramullah said that the damage will take roughly a week to repair and restore the electric supply. It will cost about Rs3 million to reconstruct the destroyed tower. This was the second such incident this month, in which electric towers were destroyed. Local residents held Tesco responsible for the explosions, alleging that the power company wanted to deprive the area of electricity. In another incident, a 132kv electric tower was destroyed in Ghani Qilla area of Shabqadar. The tower supplied electricity for Shabqadar tehsil to Tangi tehsil of the Charsadda district. An FIR has been registered against unidentified people.

Published in The Express Tribune, September 29^th, 2012.