Asif absolves his ministry of power breakdown blame

ISLAMABAD: Minister for Water and Power Khawaja Muhammad Asif on Sunday informed Prime Minister Muhammad Nawaz Sharif that the Ministry of Water and Power was not to blame for the countrywide power breakdown as it was not caused by a fault in the transmission system.
The prime minister, who is extremely angry at the countrywide power breakdown, sought a detailed report from the minister on an immediate basis.The minister called on the prime minister on Sunday afternoon upon his return to the federal capital.
The minister apprised him of the power supply situation in the country in the backdrop of the massive shutdown that started on midnight Saturday.Khawaja Asif told the prime minister that the system was gradually coming back to normal as three plants had been connected to the national grid and within a few hours the system would be largely restored.
He was hopeful that the situation would become almost normal by Monday morning. He reminded the premier that the disruption was caused by three sabotage incidents, which took place during the last 10 days, with two of them during the last two nights.
The attack taking place on the night before last was on a gas pipeline which the OGDCL promptly restored in just 13 hours. The prime minister was informed that the breakdown was not caused by any fault in the transmission system.
The minister informed the prime minister that transmission lines in Uch were blown up midnight Saturday, resulting in the tripping of Guddu power plant which caused the whole system to collapse.
Nawaz directed the Ministry of Water and Power as well as provincial authorities concerned to complete the restoration work on a war footing.He said the government was working to increase power generation in order to reduce loadshedding and steps should be taken by all concerned to ensure such unfortunate instances are not repeated in future.