CM reiterates concerns over ‘fragile’ power transmission system

Having expressed concerns over a looming power crisis in a letter sent last week, Sindh Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah on Sunday wrote a second letter to the federal minister for water and power, Khawaja Asif, following a massive electricity breakdown in the province on the first day of Ramazan.

In the letter sent on May 24, Shah had expressed apprehensions that Sindh’s ‘fragile’ power transmission network could collapse anytime during Ramazan.

With the feared scenario manifesting on the very first day of the holy month, Sunday’s letter from the CM read, “I am writing with reference to my earlier mail, dated 24.05.2017, wherein apprehensions were expressed that due to fragile and unreliable transmission network, the power supply may collapse during Ramazan, and people of Sindh would suffer immensely.”

“My apprehensions sadly came true on the first day of Ramazan (May 28, 2017) as 13 districts of rural Sindh and half of Karachi plunged into darkness after the 500 KV Hubco-Jamshoro transmission line tripped at around 2:15 am.”

Murad stated that the sudden tripping of the high transmission line had a cascading effect on not only the Hesco-Sepco distribution systems but also affected the K-Electric which was forced to switch its system to the Island mode for safety by shutting down power supply to large areas of the city. "The power is yet to be fully restored," the CM mentioned in his letter before it was dispatched to Asif.

He further wrote that among other difficulties, the one major effect the sudden power outage had in Karachi was a complete disruption of the water supply system. The CM said the power outage disturbed the water supply from Gharo, Dhabeji, Pipri, COD, Hub and North-East Karachi pumping stations, all of which primarily supply drinking water to the entire city.

“Karachi suffered a loss of about 150mgd of water due to this power breakdown. "The restoration of line pack pressure requires 24 to 36 hours after power supply is restored to all interconnected pumping stations," the letter further read.

Reiterating his stance, the CM said, "This is a very serious situation, especially when ambient day temperatures are as high as 45 degree Celsius in most parts of Sindh and the holy month of Ramazan has just commenced." 

He said the provincial government would be in a precarious situation if lengthy power breakdowns persist, compromising quality and way of life of urban and rural dwellers resulting in a law and order situation.    

Murad urged the federal minister to direct the NTDC and DISCOs to immediately take all possible measure for the restoration of electricity to all affected areas in Sindh and also rectify the faults in the 500 KV transmission line.

Besides repair work on the Guddu-Dadu-Jamshoro transmission line, work on 500 KV circuits should also be completed on an urgent basis. He further requested the minister to ensure that no such incident takes place in future. “Moreover, it is further requested that load shedding hours may be reduced to a minimum, at least during Ramazan, and continuous power supply be ensured especially during Iftar and Sehri hours in Sindh.”

Road construction sites

During a late night tour of the city, Sindh chief minister on Saturday visited sites of ongoing developmental projects and issued directives to complete them by June 30.

Among the projects visited were the reconstruction work on University Road, Tariq Road and Manzil flyover.

Murad asked officials concerned to ensure quality work was carried out at the sites and that construction work was done during night time as well in Ramazan.

He also issued instructions to place garbage bins all over the city to ensure cleanliness and warned of strict action in case of any kind of negligence on part of the officials.

Toll free number

The CM also issued a toll free number:  080091915, for citizens to lodge their complaints with him. Complaints could also be registered on numbers: 02199202065; 02199207568; 02199207349: 02199202080 and faxed at: 02199202007

CM meets Rehman Malik

Murad also met with former Pakistan People’s Party interior minister, Rehman Malik, on Sunday and discussed matters of mutual interest with him including the prevalent political situation of the country.