KARACHI:Power restoration efforts are underway after the tripping of a high power transmission line resulted in a power outage in a large number of areas in Karachi, besides other areas in Sindh.Around 500 feeders of the total 1,900 that supply power to Karachi remain off grid, despite the passage of six hours since the breakdown occurred, at around 4:10pm. The areas to lose power initially included Nazimabad, North Nazimabad, Federal B Area, Saddar, Garden, Malir, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Clifton and Defence. A quick telephonic survey among consumers conducted by Geo.tv revealed that Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block 10; Gulistan-e-Jauhar Blocks 7 and 9; Government Teachers Society, Scheme 33, Gulzar-e-Hijri; and Clifton Block 7 all lost power at around the same time — between 4:10pm and 4:20pm. A consumer told Geo.tv that just before the outage, there was a pronounced fluctuation in the power supply. Later, by 6pm, power was restored to various areas of Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, F B Area, Garden, Kazimabad Model Colony and Clifton. At 8pm, power supply remained suspended in Defence Phase I, Defence View, Qayyumabad, and several areas of North Karachi. By around 10pm, reports of power to Liaquatabad C1 area being restored were received. KE confirmed that a fault had occurred in a 500kV transmission line, which affected power supply to Karachi and some areas of Sindh. It said that it lost contact with NTDC after this occurred. The power utility said, however, that its plants are on “island mode”, which is why power restoration is “underway at a quick pace” and contact with the national grid has also been restored. “All our teams are on high alert and are striving for power restoration to all parts of the city,” according to a KE spokesperson. In a subsequent update, KE said that supply to all grids has been normalised and “feeder level restoration is underway”.It said power supply is continuing through 1,107 feeders at strategic locations including Dhabeji Water Pumping Station and Karachi Airport. KE added that “parts of PECHS, Korangi, Surjani, Gulistan-e-Johar, Clifton, Federal B Area, Shah Faisal have also been restored”.
