|
|
|
NATIONAL SCENE: Power grid hit by safety disregard
A Wapda committee inquiring into the recent nationwide power breakdown has concluded that precautionary measures were not taken and standard operating procedures were not observed in repairing the transmission line, causing the massive outage.
The four-member committee headed by Wapda’s former member for power, Chaudhry Ghulam Rasool, has also observed that Wapda’s operating procedures were not of international standards and required “a lot of improvements”.
Mr Ghulam Rasool submitted his three-page report to Liaquat Ali Jatoi, Minister for Water and Power. The report was later submitted to Prime Minister Shaukat Aziz.
It has been proved through computer records that the major cause of the breakdown was the tripping of two transformers at Rawat prior to the countrywide outage.
Failed relays of these transformers triggered cascading trippings as one 500KV line was already under maintenance. The overload of about 900MW travelled to the Faisalabad line and then shifted to the Lahore 500KV line and to 220KV lines.
District office automated
THE local district accounts office in Bahawalpur is the first among six selected cities in South Punjab which has been linked with Lahore and Islamabad through an online facility.The district office has been completely automated under the improvement of financial reporting and auditing (PIFRA) project. In his inaugural speech, District Nazim Tariq Cheema said his district was second to none as far as uplift schemes were concerned.Earlier, district accounts officer Abdul Latif Shahid Joyia said that under the PIFRA, a computer laboratory costing about Rs10 million was established. All kinds of payments, including those involving pension, would be made through 24 computers installed.
The system, he said, would also be introduced in Rahimyar Khan, Khanewal, Multan, Dera Ghazi Khan and Sahiwal districts in due course of time. He said Bahawalnagar and Lodhran district accounts offices would also be computerised shortly.
Tech firm for Nadra?
PRIME Minister Shaukat Aziz has approved restructuring of the National Database Registration Authority (Nadra) and establishment of its allied department, Nadra Technologies, as a highly professional multinational company to export knowledge-based products worldwide and to take part in international biddings.Presiding over a meeting at the Prime Minister House, the premier said the strategic objective of Nadra was registration of the maximum number of citizens. Nadra has already established a company to participate in international biddings for database registration technologies, machine readable passports, etc.
The Nadra Chairman, in his presentation, gave an overview of Nadra’s present capacity, ongoing projects, future plans and strategies. The meeting was also attended by Interior Minister Aftab Ahmed Khan Sherpao, Minister of State for Interior Zafar Iqbal Warraich, Minister of State for Finance Omar Ayub Khan and Deputy Chairman Planning Commission Dr M. Akram Sheikh besides many senior officials.
The authority is also shifting its database warehouse from the first floor to the ground floor of its headquarters at a cost of Rs20 million.
Groundwater quality
THE irrigation and power department of Punjab paints a gloomy picture about the quality of groundwater all over the province, as according to its recent study, 56 per cent of the pumped-out water samples have been found unfit for irrigation purposes.Chairman of the provincial planning and development department, Salman Ghani, held a brainstorming session with secretaries and other senior officials of irrigation and environment departments to discuss the issue and frame and implement a groundwater management strategy through a proposed institutional setup called Provincial Water Resources Council.A total of 3,287 samples were collected from seven groundwater-monitoring units. Of them, 56 per cent were found unfit because they had over and above the suitable levels of electrical conductivity, sodium absorption ratio and RSC, says the report on groundwater quality.
According to the report, Dera Ghazi Khan and Bahawalpur were worst-hit areas where 76 and 73 per cent samples were found unfit for irrigation purposes, respectively. The next on the list are Faisalabad (60 per cent) and Thal (Khushab) (57 per cent). In Sargodha 49 per cent and in Multan and Lahore 45 and 41 per cent water samples, respectively, are found unfit for irrigation use. More than 90 per cent of the total pumped-out groundwater is being used for irrigation purposes, and the rest for domestic and industrial use. — Agencies
|
|
|
|
