KOHAT, Oct 29: A team of experts from the grid construction department of Wapda has been deputed to restore power supply from Peshawar to the southern districts on a temporary basis. The supply was disrupted on Sunday after a transmission tower had been destroyed by militants, plunging large parts of the NWFP into darkness.

Officials said that it would take several days to restore regular supply, but alternative arrangements had been made to provide a temporary relief.

Pesco’s executive engineer for Kohat region, Arbab Afridi, told Dawn that the team was at the site of the destroyed tower in the mountains of the frontier region of Kohat.

“Electricity is being supplied to the southern districts from Daud Khel under a contingency plan for one hour after every two hours so the daily life of the people is not completely disrupted.

However, people in half of the NWFP are experiencing the worst kind of loadshedding and complaints of water shortage had been received from various areas.

Mr Afridi said that terrorists had used a huge quantity of explosives to blow up the tower in Bosti Khel area of Darra Adam Khel, destroying it completely.

He said the installation of a new tower would take several days. It will require a concrete base at the new site where the technical staff will join hundreds of pieces together to raise it up to the required height.

He said Wapda had high-tech machinery and cranes to cope with such situations, but as the tower had to be installed on a mountain the work would take several days.

He said the Wapda team was trying to connect the southern district through a temporary connection from Peshawar which would also take some time.

At the moment, electricity was being supplied to Hangu, Karak Thall, Bannu, Lakki Marwat, Orakzai Agency, Kurram Agency and other areas from Daud Khel for a minimum of 12 hours on alternate timings.

In Kohat, the rural and urban sub-divisions were being supplied power on rotation and importance was being given to areas which have sensitive installations.

This was the third attempt by terrorists to blow up a tower in Darra Adam Khel although tribes had been providing guarantees every time that such incidents would never happen.

The tribal authorities have so far taken no action against the tribe on whose land the tower had been blown up, although efforts were said to be under way to trace the perpetrators.