LAHORE – Technical glitches at Tarbela power plant on early Wednesday ledto worst load-shedding in Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, leaving consumersin the dark.
A blackout is being observed in Lahore, Multan, Bahawalpur, Gujranwala andother cities in Punjab, and Peshawar, Swat, Lakki Marwat in KP. The faultat the Tarbela also caused tripping of all four Chashma Power Plants.
The power breakdown also caused a blackout in the National Assembly, PunjabAssembly, impeding the routine proceedings. However, the parliamentarybusiness carried out by turning on the generators.
Media reports say medical surgeries of patients at different hospitals inLahore and other cities were halted due to the power outage.
Technical team accompanied by the Secretary, Power Division, have reachedthe site to trace the fault. Officials said that the supply of theelectricity will be restored in few hours.
A spokesperson of the Atomic Energy Commission informed that industrialload-shedding amounting to ten hours would also begin in Punjab today. Thismeasures might have been taken to provide uninterrupted supply to peopleduring Ramazan.
Pakistan’s current energy demand stands at 20,000 megawatts.