Earlier today, many cities saw their power supplies disrupted. Punjab and KPK were the most deeply affected provinces following the recent power breakdown. Many cities saw their daily production grind to a halt following a prolonged spate of non-availability of power in cities such as Lahore, Islamabad, Rawalpindi, Multan, Faisalabad and more.
The cause of the recent power breakdown has been attributed to the Guddu Thermal Power Plant, whose grid caught fire, shutting down the 220 to 500 KV step-up grid station there.
Since the filing of this report, no timelines have been given over how long it will take to rectify the fault at Guddu Thermal Power Plant.
An ongoing session of the National Assembly was disrupted momentarily when for a few moments, the power went off with many of the lawmakers present in the august house.
The few moments of discomfort were all that was needed for public representatives to wake up to the reality faced by millions of Pakistanis every other day. TV footage of the in-camera session of the National Assembly also captured the pitch-black scenes of commotion that ensued following the momentary blackout.
After the backup generators kicked in, the lawmakers sitting in opposition benches raised a protest against the continuing spate of power breakdowns in the country.
There has been a worrisome trend observed during the past few weeks when it comes to the occurrences of power breakdowns on a country-wide scale. This isn’t the first time this month that Punjab and KPK were knocked offline without power.
With differing statements from the powers that be that electricity and loadshedding issues will/will not be solved by 2018, confusion persists over how much is being done to address an issue of crucial importance for Pakistan and its citizens.
