July 25, 2003	Friday	Jumadi-ul-Awwal 24, 1424

Please Visit our Sponsor (Ads open in separate window).

LARKANA, July 24: The chairman of the Water and Power Development Authority has ordered an inquiry into the fire incident at the Kashmor grid station.

Talking to this correspondent here on Thursday, Hesco chief engineer Abdul Rashid Khan said senior engineer Bashir Ahmad of the monitoring and surveillance wing of Wapda had been appointed as the inquiry officer.

He said five panels worth Rs2.5 million fitted inside the grid station were damaged. He said new panels were brought from Hyderabad to replace the damaged ones.

The inquiry officer will be assisted by directors of the company to ascertain the causes of the incident and fix responsibility for it.

Mr Khan said Wapda chairman Zulfikar Ali would arrive at the site on Saturday where the inquiry team would present him its findings.

The chairman will also hold an open kutchehry in Larkana on Sunday to listen to grievances of consumers.

The Hesco chief engineer said the grid station would be repaired till Thursday night after which supply of electricity to the area would be restored.

The Wapda chairman will also visit Garhi Yaseen and Wagan where three big towers supplying electricity to Larkana from Dadu and Guddu power stations had fallen down after a strong dust storm hit Larkana and its adjoining areas on Monday night.

Mr Khan said the main electric poles of 132kv, coming from Dadu, had fallen in three-foot-deep water.

When this correspondent visited the site, different Hesco teams were erecting new poles in the water.

A Hesco official said senior engineers from Hyderabad and experts from the Grid System Construction and the Grid System Operation had also been called to expedite the restoration work.

Meanwhile, Larkana continued to receive power supply with low voltage. Many villages of the district have been witnessing prolonged power breakdowns for the last four days.

PROTEST: A large number of people blocked the entrance to Larkana at the Lahori regulator for four hours to protest against power breakdown in the district.

Raising slogans against Hesco for not restoring power supply to the district’s many localities, the protesters closed all the roads passing from the entry point and burnt tyres.

The SDO of Hesco negotiated with the protestors and assured them of power supply in two hours.

This correspondent also received calls from different parts of the district complaining against the power failure.

Meanwhile, Hesco engineer Habibur Rehman Shaikh here on Tuesday said the company was supplying power to the district from a 66kv grid station as 132kv Dadu and Guddu grid stations had developed faults in Monday night’s dust storm.

He said Hesco had been receiving complaints from consumers since Monday night. However, he added, power supply to most of localities was restored on Tuesday.

Another Hesco official said power supply from Gudu and Dadu grid stations would be restored in two days.