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Thursday March 28, 2024

Massive power breakdown hits Karachi

By Our Correspondent
September 02, 2021
Massive power breakdown hits Karachi

KARACHI: A major part of the megapolis witnessed a massive power breakdown on Wednesday’s evening when 1,400 of 1,900 feeders tripped. Later with the sporadic light rain the power crisis further turned acute in a few parts of the city.

According to the city's sole power utility K-Electric, high power transmission lines that receive power from National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) tripped resulting in non-functioning of feeders supplying power to various parts of the city. A lightning strike at the NTDC’s high transmission line led to the massive power outage, it said. Later in the evening, the Ministry of Power tweeted that the total supply to K-Electric from the NTDC was restored. However, by then showers led to intermittent power failure in different parts of the city.

Several parts of the city remained without power including North Nazimabad, Nazimabad, North Karachi, New Karachi, Landhi, Korangi, Malir, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Malir, Surjani Town, Qaidabad, Yaseenabad, FB Area of the District Central, Shah Faisal Town, II Chundrigar Road, Garden area, parts of Lyari, MA Jinnah Road, Saddar, areas of Defense Housing Authority (DHA), Clifton, Boat Basin and several other areas. A resident of Gulshan-e-Iqbal complained to The News that he had to suffer from a power outage for as many as four hours. “With rain around 5pm, there was another power breakdown which lasted until 8pm,” he moaned. A similar situation was observed in Naziambad in District Central which was already under a power breakdown. The situation, said a resident, worsened after it started to rain causing a complete blackout. Many areas remained without electricity till the filing of this report, while K-Electric said its teams were working to restore power in the affected areas.

Like a double jeopardy, the water supply to Karachi also came to a standstill after the power breakdown. According to Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) water supply from Dhabeji Pumping Station, Pipri Pumping Station and Hub Pumping stopped due to the power outage.

However the light rain towards early evening turned weather pleasant with occasional mugginess. The rainwater also accumulated in some low lying areas of Karachi. The light rain fell under the influence of a monsoon system in the region, Pakistan Meteorological Department (PMD) Wednesday said, while it forecast moderate showers for the city with some heavy falls on Thursday and Friday.

“Light rain was recorded in Karachi and the highest amount of 12 millimeters of rain was recorded in Gulshan-e-Hadeed today. The low pressure area or the monsoon system is active in the region and can cause moderate to heavy showers on Thursday and Friday,” Director Met Karachi Sardar Sarfraz told The News on Wednesday. According to PMD, 3 millimeters of rain was recorded at PAF Base Faisal, 1.2 mm at Jinnah Terminal, 2 mm each at University Road and DHA while other city areas only received traces of rain.

The KE in its statement said, the KE teams remained active to restore power supply to Karachi following a tripping in the EHT transmission line which caused a disconnection between KE and NTDC circuits. This tripping was caused by a lightning strike on the NTDC’s 220 kV Jamshoro circuit.

KE’s power plants continued to operate in island mode which enabled swift restoration of power to Karachi. Restoration efforts were further expedited following reconnection between KE and National Grid.

KE teams were able to quickly restore power supply to all grids and began energizing the areas associated with these grids as well.

A KE spokesperson commented on the efforts, stating, ‘’Our connection with the National Transmission Despatch Company (NTDC) has been completely restored. Power supply to major parts of the city has also been completely reinstated. We are gradually energizing feeders in various localities and our ground teams are available to rectify any localized fault.

Reports of sporadic rain across the city also slowed our progress as we had to initiate our safety protocols. Areas with high incidences of theft and illegal usage of electricity through Kundas were kept off for safety reasons until ground teams provided clearance.” At the time it is being written, K-Electric has restored power supply to various strategic locations including KWSB pumping stations, Karachi Airport among others. Restored areas included but were not limited to: Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Defence, Federal B Area, Baloch Colony, KDA, Orangi Town, Surjani, Azizabad, Gulistan-e-Johar, Saddar, Landhi, Baldia, and Malir.

The utility remains available for any queries or complaints via its call center 118, SMS service 8119, KE Live App, and social media platforms.