Rain affected: Electricity restored after a week of darkness

Many areas around Bari Imam plunged into darkness after a fault developed in a transformer.

ISLAMABAD:

The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) finally restored electricity to Noori Bagh Mohalla and its surrounding areas in Bari Imam after one week.

The areas had descended into complete darkness after heavy rains had knocked out a power transformer in the locality last Monday.

The locality has around 5,000 houses, some of which have been damaged by heavy rains. The inmates of those damaged houses had to face serious security situation at nights due to the power outage.

“The power supply was disrupted at around 10:30am on August 12, after a rain lashed the capital. Since then, the area remained without electricity for almost six days. “After the sunset, the surrounding areas would plunge into darkness and it would become difficult for us to look after our children and belongings as there was no electricity in the area,” a local resident told The Express Tribune.

Soon after the power outage, multiple complaints were lodged by the areas residents, but to the vain.

Nadeem, a local resident, said that and they opted to candles to illuminate their houses at nights as there is no natural gas in many areas.

Another local, Nigar Mehr was forced to spend nights under the open sky as the boundary wall of her house had collapsed due to the heavy rains. “Each second in absolute darkness, I felt like someone was trying to break into my house to steal whatever I was left with,” she said.

Arshad, who runs a small shop in the area, said that while taking advantage of the complete darkness, robbers burgled his house a few nights back and made away with money, jewellery and other valuables. “Our poverty is the only reason the IESCO is not paying any attention to our problems,” he said.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 19^th, 2013.