KARACHI/LAHORE/ISLAMABAD: A massive power outage has been reported from across the country. Reports gathered by MM News from Karachi, Lahore, Islamabad and Quetta revealed that large areas of these cities were out of power with no prior information from relevant authorities.
In Lahore, power breakdown was reported from various areas including Yateem Khana, Riyaz Colony, Thokar Niaz Beg, Mall Road, Canal Road and Johar Town.
In Islamabad, there was no power supply available from some 117 grid stations across the federal capital.
The National Transmission & Despatch Company (NTDC), when approached by media, gave initial comment, saying the system as of now stands completely closed, several cities including Karachi, Lahore, Quetta, Islamabad are affected and efforts are underway to ascertain the cause of the power outage. The NTDC further said that it might take up to 5 hours to restore the power supply.
The Federal Ministry of Energy took to Twitter and reported about decline in electrical frequency at around 7:34 am Monday morning, resulting in power breakdown.
ابتدائی اطلاعات کے مطابق آج صبح 7:34 پر نیشنل گرڈ کی سسٹم فریکوئنسی کم ہوئ جس سے بجلی کے نظام میں وسیع بریک ڈاؤن ہوا
سسٹم کی بحالی پر کام تیزی سےجاری ہے— Ministry of Energy-Power Division, Government of P (@MoWP15) January 23, 2023
People from Faisalabad told MM News that there was no electricity in the area since 7:35am Monday morning, while in Karachi, social media users reported the outage at the same time.
Power utility responsible for Karachi, the K-Electric, when contacted by media, said they had received reports about power outages from different parts of the Metropolis, and efforts were underway to ascertain the cause of the breakdown.
Karachiites from Malir, Landhi, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Akhtar Colony, North Nazimabad, I I Chundrigar Road, New Karachi, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Ibrahim Hyderi and other parts of the city took to different parts of social media and reported power outages in their respective neighborhood.
Elsewhere in the country, reports quoted IESCO spokesperson as saying that its 117 gird stations were without electricity. No reason was intimated by the regional control centres so far for the power breakdown, he said. The IESCO administration was in continuous touch with the relevant quarters in this regard, he said.
According to Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO), the two transmission lines from Guddu to Quetta tripped. It added that 22 districts of Balochistan, including Quetta, were without power.
