PHOTO: EXPRESS/MOHAMMAD NOMAN
"Transmission towers, 75, 76 in Sibbi were blown by unknown miscreants at 11:53pm on January 24," he said, adding that 7500MW of power has been added into the grid.
While addressing the media, he said reports of an attack were coming in from midnight but since there could be no verification from local administration, the media was not informed about it.
He added that the damage to the 220 kilovolt-Amperes (kVA) transmission lines between Sibbi and Quetta caused a backward surge of power to the Guddu power plant in Sindh, which in turn caused a cascading effect on the entire national grid.
"The entire system was restored by 8:30am in the morning, and now about 7500MW of power is in the national grid," he said. "We are hopeful that we will improve it by tonight."
Earlier, the country's State Minister for Water and Power apologised for inconvenience and said work was under process to restore electricity.
"On the Prime Minister's directive, we are not to sleep till this problem is resolved," he said in a message on Twitter.
“Power supply has been restored from all grid stations,” a National Transmission and Dispatch Company spokesperson told Express News.
The spokesperson added 50% of the power supply in the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi had been restored while 40% was restored in Lahore.
“The power supply will be completely restored within two hours,” the spokesperson added.
The power failure, one of the worst in the country has experienced, caused power to be cut in major cities throughout the country, including Islamabad.
RELATED POST: Power breakdown: Nationwide blackout
Earlier in the night, there had been speculation that the system had tripped due to a decline in power production as the country’s power plants run dangerously low on furnace oil supplies. Dagha ruled out this explanation. “We had pushed up power production to 9,500 MW by evening. Even 800MW more of hydroelectric power generation was available.”
Power consumption over the last few days has hovering around the 14,000MW mark. “Before this breakdown we were successfully managing the shortage by carrying out load shedding for industrial consumers,” Dagha said.
COMMENTS (24)
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@Ishrat salim you whole question is wrong in my opinion. It is not a question but your opinion about two parties. Though correct that two large parties have a lot of blame but are you purposefully missing the point that WAPDA and other such institutes have been run by generals for over 40 years, what about them, how do they sleep at night. Similarly, Balochies hitting these transmission towers are angry at something, what is that something and the generals that made these balochies this much angry, how do they sleep at night. Same thing, keep blaming every thing on politicians but not a single word about constant failures of one institute, people who do that like your self, what will you tell Allah swt?
I just do not understand & cannot apprehend...how can these so-called leaders which people elected them can sleep peacefully at night ? can some one please ask them ? " do you get peaceful sleep at night with all the problems the poor people are facing "? " how do you sleep ?" what answer these leaders have for Allah swt ? I also do not understand & apprehend the logic of electing same group of people who have been tried & tested in 2 last govt ? both PPP & PML N....I mean it is so frustrating to apprehend the quality of people who so blatantly supports these 2 main political parties, who have not brought any meaningful satisfactory benefits for the poor people....on what ground & justification we elected them ? have they been good on their pre-election promises ? so, when we know that they have backtracked on their promises, is this not as good as lying ? Yes! it is, so what does Islam say " lie to your people ", do these politicians then think will get away from the wrath of Allah swt ? I fail to even think, what answer these politicians & leaders have in store to answer Allah swt for their inability to solve the basic need of the poor people? I also at loss, what those supporters of these political parties & their leaders will answer to Allah swt ? Can someone please make me understand ?
It is time to apologize to our Baloch brothers and try / punish Musharraf. One person is not important when it comes to integrity of entire nation. If Balochies want Musharraf head, give them and lets more forward.
Not strategic assets instead electric liabilities.
Guys this is not something our neighbouring country doesn't experience. Look at how Modi hugged Obama to get the nuclear deal through. We can do the same with Chinese premier.
@Jonsa: You are right! The power grid is designed so as not to allow for problems in one area to spread to others.
@Jonsa: You have been watching too much "wag the dog " type movies .
My friend, we are in a real war - this is no movie .
Mr Hamid Mir where are u???? U always raising ur voice for baloch militants...justify
Fuel crisis spreads to power generation just like it was predicted weeks ago. Of course Baloch seperatists make for convenient bogeymen and serve to deflect blame from the government of the country.
Ishaq Dar will come out and say "this is yet another conspiracy against our government". If only the conspiracies would stop, PML(N) ministers will turn Pakistan into a Germany through their skill, acumen, integrity, competence, and hard work
@Sajid: No , someone like you should believe only in the terrorist version.
Can't belive some of the comments!
Show some spine if you are going to start a war - put up or shutup!
@atif ilyas:
Get a hold of yourself .
If you declare against miscreants , expect the blowback. Stop whining ...
@Stewart J: No at all my friend.
If it is true that there was an attack on the electric supply, the story is virtually over with Pakistan. The terrorists are progressing to economic targets, and that will hurt a lot more than bombs aimed at people. Is the electricity infrastructure so weak that sabotage of one section can cause a country-wide breakdown? What happens when they diversify to railway lines, water mains, power stations, telephone exchanges, ........................, ? There is only one effective solution. Scale down the infrastructure, scale up its defense, take out processions against the government, and engage in lofty causes like liberty and toilet facilities in neighboring countries.
The loss of a single line (called N-1 contingency) should not cause a system blackout. The NTDC and DISCOs have turned off the protective devices that prevent system blackouts so as to add more load to the grid. ALL of the issues being faced by the grid right now are covered by the Grid Codes (result of the 1997 NEPRA Act) and Distribution codes. Just following these rules would prevent these types of outages and protect customer equipment. Pakistanis need to look at the Electricity Law regarding quality of power issues and the responsibility of the NTDC and DISCO's. a few of you file FIR's against the relative organizations and NEPRA for not doing there jobs and maybe things will change.
Who will the government blame this time ?
Is it fair to say that Pakistan is in the dark ages?
Andhair nagree in more than one way!
*Should we believe govt's statement? *
Totally shame on Pakistani Government even nothing has been controlled from him.. ........
Reminds me of grid failure here in India couple of years ago. It happens sometimes, specially when states try to draw more leading to drop in frequency and ultimately failure of grid.
That's why Obama not visiting Pakistan, he can't live without Gas, Electricity and Petrol.....
Shame. This shameful blackout comes after petrol crisis, gas crisis, food crisis in Thar, water crisis and also the persistent electricity crisis. The real reason is the FURNACE OIL SCAM, as reported by the media yesterday. The elite and factory owners are hoarding furnace oil and also stealing the electricity generated. In all this the common man, the public, is suffering while the political and establishment elite enjoy luxury lives in Islamabad and Rawalpindi's high end areas.