ISLAMABAD, Feb 2: The centre has asked the Balochistan government to provide foolproof security to power installations to ensure uninterrupted electricity supply to consumers.

Sources said Wapda authorities had informed the government that five major incidents of rocket attack or bomb explosions had damaged power installations and blown up 220/132 kv transmission lines between Jan 17 to 27, followed by two more attacks on transmission towers on Tuesday.

Wapda had also informed the federal government that they had taken all possible security measures but it was beyond their capacity to protect hundreds of kilometres of heavy transmission lines and the sabotage activities has caused loss of millions of rupees in terms of physical damage and loss of reduced power sales.

An official statement said here on Wednesday that minister for water and power Liaquat Ali Jatoi took a serious note of sabotaging power transmission lines in Balochistan, blown up by the miscreants and requested the Balochistan government to provide foolproof security to the power installations.

He talked to the Balochistan governor and chief minister on telephone after the Tuesday attack on transmission towers and stated that these were national assets and safety of such installations was very important.

He reminded the governor and the chief minister the recent decision of the president and the prime minister to protect national assets at all costs and said such incidents were creating serious problems for the masses, commercial and industrial activities has come to a halt due to the power breakdown for hours.

The blasts on transmission line has also caused loss of millions to the national economy. The minister requested the governor and chief minister of Balochistan to take action against the miscreants and provide security to the power installations for uninterrupted electricity supply to the people and the commercial and industrial sector.

The governor and the chief minister assured the minister for providing complete security to power installations without any delay and stated that these will be protected at all costs.