Despite the deadline having passed, electricity has not yet been entirely restored throughout Pakistan
LAHORE/KARACHI/QUETTA/ISLAMABAD: Despite the government’s 10 p.m. deadline having passed, there are still some areas of the country without electricity, which is affecting companies and the daily lives of more than 220 million people.
The interruption, which started at around 7:30 am and has already lasted more than 14 hours during the busiest time of the winter, has prompted Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif to urge an investigation.
The outage happened on a day in winter when Islamabad’s temperature is expected to drop to about 4 degrees Celsius (39°F) and Karachi’s to about 8 degrees Celsius (46°F).
The blackout, which Energy Minister Khurram Dastagir claimed was caused by a power surge, is the second significant grid breakdown in three months and adds to the nearly daily blackouts Pakistan’s population experiences.
Analysts and government representatives attribute the power issues to an outdated energy network, which, like much of the country’s infrastructure, is in critical need of an upgrade but which the government claims it cannot pay.
The energy minister tweeted that power has begun to be restored nationwide as darkness fell and households were left in the dark and without electricity. “We have experienced certain obstacles, but we will overcome these obstacles and restore the power,” Dastgir had earlier told reporters.
The goal is to restore electricity by 22:00 (10pm) local time, although far earlier restoration efforts are being made “The total restoration will be finished by tonight, the minister had promised, but later in the press conference he made the unspecified statement.
Dastgir quickly explained that the power producing units are momentarily turned down in the winter at night as a cost-saving measure to reduce fuel expenses following the earlier in the day reported power outage.
“Frequency fluctuation was seen in the southern region of the country between Jamshoro and Dadu when the systems were turned on one by one this morning at 7:30.”
“There was a voltage fluctuation, and cascade effects caused power generating units to shut down one by one. According to the federal minister, this is not a serious crisis.
