September 28, 2006	Thursday	Ramazan 4, 1427

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ISLAMABAD, Sept 27: Opposition members have submitted separate adjournment motions to the National Assembly and Senate secretariats seeking discussion on the massive power breakdown that hit the country on Sunday.

Talking to Dawn on Wednesday, ARD parliamentary secretary Izhar Amrohvi said the adjournment motions had been signed by opposition members belonging to the People’s Party Parliamentarians (PPP), the Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N), the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal (MMA) and the Awami National Party (ANP).

It may be mentioned that a massive power breakdown hit the country on Sunday noon as a result of a technical fault in the northern hydropower producing region that triggered cascading trippings across the integrated national grid.

There was no electricity for many hours in most parts of Punjab, the NWFP, upper Sindh and Balochistan.

Large parts of Karachi, which relies on Wapda to meeting a part of its power requirements were also without electricity for hours. It was the first such unusual collapse of power system since 2001 that caused a blackout almost in the entire country and spread rumours about an abrupt change of government.

The motions, submitted by the opposition members, state that it is a “matter of shock” that the supply of electricity system “dropped throughout the country without any notice and the whole nation remained in suspense and harassment due to such a long breakdown of power” causing “grave concern and rumours amongst the general public”.

Through the motions, the opposition members termed the incident a proof of the “failure of the government” to provide uninterrupted power supply to the people of the country.

The motion, submitted to the National Assembly Secretariat, has been signed by chief whip of the PPP in the National Assembly Syed Khursheed Ahmed Shah, PPP Secretary-General Raja Pervez Ashraf, PPP Information Secretary Sherry Rehman, Naheed Khan, Chaudhry Qamaruz Zaman Kaira, Imtiaz Safdar Warraich, Syed Naveed Qamar, Ghulam Murtaza Satti, Fauzia Wahab and Syed Nayyar Bokhari of the PPP and acting parliamentary leader of the PML-N Chaudhry Nisar Ali Khan and Tehmina Daultana.

The motion, moved in the Senate Secretariat, has been signed by Opposition Leader in the Senate Raza Rabbani, Prof Khurshid Ahmed, Sardar Mahtab Ahmed Abbasi, Dr Babar Awan, Enver Baig, Dr Safdar Ali Abbasi, Dr Abdul Malik, Sardar Latif Khosa and Asfandyar Wali Khan.

Mr Amrohvi said opposition members had also filed adjournment motions in Senate on the issues of violation of the Pakistani air space by US helicopters in North Waziristan and excessive unchecked mining taking place at the site of Saindak Project. Through another motion, the opposition senators have also sought discussion on the meeting of the grand Baloch jirga deciding to move the International Court of Justice (ICJ).