Power break down in many areas after fire erupts in Chakwal, Chakri grid stations

Rawalpindi

A major electricity breakdown Wednesday hit several parts of city and cantonment board, Rawalpindi when fire erupted in the 132/KV grid stations at Chakwal and Chakri.

The residents of Adiala, Gorakhpur, Sher Zaman Colony, Tulsa, Munawar Colony, Dhoke Kalhoor, Al-Mumtaz Colony, New Lalazar, Defense Road, Gulistan Colony and several other areas faced a major power breakdown of 16-hours while consumers of many areas were still waiting for electricity till the filing of this report on Wednesday.

The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) Sub-Divisional Officer (SDO) Adiala Muhammad Ali told ‘The News’ that two main supply circuits at Chakwal and Chakri grid stations were out of order. We are trying to remove the fault in grid stations, he claimed. He said that due to continuous rain, 132/KV circuit Chakwal has developed major fault. In the meantime, another grid station in Chakri also developed a fault which caused long hours of power breakdown, he added.

The residents of Adiala, Tulsa, Gulistan Colony, Munawar Colony, Tahli Morri, Dehri Hassanabad, Bakramandi, Dhamyal, Kalyal, Morgha, Askari-14, Askari-7, Dhoke Juma, Mubarak Lane, Usama Street, Hill view Lane, 502, Chakri, Gulshanabad, Jarahi, and even some parts of Lalkurti and several other localities faced due to power outage. The residents of affected localities of the city and cantonment board faced acute shortage of water due to a long power breakdown of more than sixteen hours from 12 midnight to till the filing of this report on Wednesday.

All water filtration plants in the jurisdictions of affected localities shut down due to long hours of power breakdown as locals deprived off drinking water as well. The residents complained that unscheduled and prolonged power outages have disturbed their routine life even in peak winter.

The reliable sources informed that the cause of the fire was stated to be a short circuit. The fire destroyed the panel and control rooms along with other machinery in the feeder at Chakwal and Chakri grid stations causing an estimated loss of Rs200 million to the Islamabad Electricity Supply Company (Iesco). On duty officials on condition of anonymity said the fire broke out in the grid stations at about 11:35 pm and 12:00 midnight after which thick smoke engulfed the areas. Some Iesco officials are terming this to a technical fault but in reality fires broke out in both grid stations, they claimed.