April 2, 2006	Sunday	Rabi-ul-Awwal 3, 1427

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QUETTA, April 1: Due to security concerns, the Quetta Electricity Supply Company staff on Saturday could not start work to replace electric towers and transmission lines destroyed in the Mach area of Bolan district on Friday.

As a result, 20 out of 28 districts of Balochistan continued to remain without electricity.

According to sources, the Qesco engineers and other staff has refused to start working in the area until proper security arrangements are made for their security.

The engineers and other staff went to the area on Friday afternoon with the officials of the bomb disposal squad to start the work.

Officials of the bomb disposal squad recovered explosive material and an anti-tank mine planted under one of the destroyed electric towers.

Meanwhile, unknown armed men fired a rocket and started firing on the bomb disposal squad and Qesco staff, forcing them to abandon the work and leave the area for Mach town.

The Qesco staff told their superiors: “We will not work without security clearance.”

A company spokesman told journalists here that a line superintendent had become victim of a landmine.

“We have not started repair work,” a Qesco official said and added that the four destroyed towers would have to be replaced and 15 days would be required for installing new towers and laying new transmission lines of 220 and 132 KV in the area.

He said that power would be supplied to the affected areas for two hours daily from the feeders supplying power to tubewells.

The provincial government has deployed more security personnel in the area to establish check-posts on mountains to ensure protection of electric and other installations in Bolan district.