Rain relief or curse amid power outages

LAHORE:Rain and gentle winds have exposed significant vulnerabilities within the Lahore Electric Supply Company's (Lesco) distribution network, leading to extended power outages that have affected a broad area.

On Monday, residents of Lahore experienced light winter rain, which, unfortunately, coincided with power interruptions that exposed the fragility of Lesco's infrastructure. It is learnt that approximately 180 feeders tripped as a result of the rain, causing widespread outages that left many households and businesses in the dark.

The situation was exacerbated by additional technical issues and planned shutdowns that were already in place, compounding the difficulties faced by consumers. Frustration among residents has been substantial, as they voiced their concerns about the frequent power failures and the significant impact these disruptions have on their daily lives even in low demand winter months. Many have expressed worries about the implications for their work, education, and overall quality of life.

An official revealed that around 400 feeders had been taken offline for what was described as general maintenance. This maintenance was part of ongoing repair and upgrade efforts that have been under way for several months, aimed at improving the reliability of the power supply. However, the timing of these maintenance activities, coupled with the adverse weather conditions, has led to a perfect storm of outages.

In response to the impact of the light rain on the electricity distribution system, the official explained that Lesco typically preemptively cuts power supply during adverse weather conditions to prevent further damage and ensure safety. This precautionary measure, while intended to protect the infrastructure, has unfortunately resulted in significant inconvenience to residents.

To address the ongoing issues, the official assured the public that personnel had been deployed to identify and rectify any faults within the system. Efforts were being made to restore power to the affected feeders as quickly as possible.

The official expressed confidence that normal power supply would soon be reinstated throughout the city, urging residents to remain patient as the situation was being managed. Despite the challenges posed by the weather and the existing vulnerabilities in the distribution network, Lesco is committed to improving service reliability and minimising future disruptions.

When contacted for seeking formal response of power utility regarding frequent power suspension, the official spokesperson was not available.

AQI improves

Scattered rain improved the Air Quality Index (AQI) of the provincial capital while Met office predicted similar weather conditions for the next 24 hours.

The scattered rain was recorded in several city localities after which the smoggy conditions subsided and citizens were able to see the sun and the blue sky hiding behind the scattered clouds. Data collected from IQAir revealed that the average AQI of the city came down to 212, which still came in the category of very unhealthy. It said the most polluted city localities included DHA phase V (308), Burki Road (290), Polo Ground Cantt (285), Askari 10 (265), Mini Market Gulberg (252), Model Town Link Road (239), Syed Maratib Ali Road (231), Ghazi Road Interchange (229) and Tufail Road (222).

Met officials said that continental air was prevailing over most parts of the country while a shallow westerly wave was present over upper and eastern parts of the country. They predicted that mainly cold and dry weather was expected in most parts of the country while very cold in hilly areas during morning/night. However, partly cloudy weather with light rain/light snowfall may occur at isolated places in Gilgit-Baltistan and Kashmir during morning hours. Smog/ fog (in patches) was likely in plain areas of Punjab, Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and upper Sindh during morning/night hours.

Monday’s minimum temperature was recorded at Leh where mercury dropped to -09°C, while in Lahore, it was 6.8°C and maximum was 17°C.