Pindi residents face sleepless night as grid catches fire

RAWALPINDI: The residents of Sadiqabad, Muslim Town, Kuri Road, Glass Factory, Dhok Kashmirian, Chah Sultan, Afandi Colony, Khurram Colony, Dhok Kala Khan, Shamsabad, Banni, Amarpura, Qayyumabad and several other localities faced sleepless night due to burning of 132KV Grid Station Satellite Town last night.

The wires of 19 feeders had burnt completely due to burning of Grid Station Satellite Town in this regard. Fire brigade vehicles reached at the spot to control situation but thousands of consumers faced worst situation whole night due to absence of light. Light restored after long 16 hours but temporarily because it will once again disappear at about 5:pm to 11:pm Wednesday to resolve this issue permanently.

The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) Official Spokesman Raja Asim Nazir told ‘The News’ that grid station burnt due to system overloading. All underground and upper ground wires sparked and burnt. It badly affected 19 feeders to darkness all areas whole night, he said. “Immediately, we called fire brigade vehicles to control present situation on the occasion. We have temporarily restored electricity but we will close main supply of all areas from 5:pm to 11:pm again to resolve this issue permanently,” he said.

The residents of affected localities came out on roads to protest against poor electricity system of Iesco. There was a tensed situation all around in affected areas because angry protesters raised anti-government slogans. The Iesco officials tried to console public but vain.

The angry protesters said that government is only increasing the rates of electricity not considering quality of supply. How they could survive without light in this harsh weather, they denounced. They also said that families of affected areas faced worst water crisis due to long power breakdown.