RAWALPINDI: Due to a fault in the main supply line, the twin cities of Islamabad and Rawalpindi were left without power for over six hours on Friday.

Taxila, Wah, Hassanabdal and other nearby areas also faced the power cut, bringing daily life to a standstill.

Superintendent Engineer at the Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) Raja Asghar said electricity supply had been hindered because of a problem in the main supply line.

Six-hour power breakdown affects households, businesses

However, he said, Iesco had managed to restore power flow within a few hours.

“Power supply to most areas was restored by Friday prayers, but others were left without electricity till 3pm,” he added.

In reply to a question, Mr Asghar said the power company had no plans to relax the loadshedding schedule because the gap between demand and supply persists.

A senior official at Iesco said electricity to both Islamabad and Rawalpindi was supplied from Muzaffargarh and that supply to them from Tarbela and Mangla is stopped in the winters.

“An initial report submitted to Iesco blamed fog in the southern side for the damage to the main supply lines, of 500 kilowatts (Kv) each. A detailed report will come in a day or two,” he said.

Due to the power outage, traffic signals could also not operate. Many residents got worried when they found out the power cut was across a large area and rumours took hold with some saying the main grid station was out of order.

Residents of both cities and adjoining areas could not carry on with their daily routines and many had to offer Friday prayers without showering as is the norm because they could not fill up the over head water tanks.

A resident of Westridge, Mohammad Imran, said he was left without a mobile phone all day.

“I forgot to charge my phone at night and could not plug it in during the day. My phone remained switched off till I could charge it again,” he said.

Mohammad Imran explained that with the area already faced with natural gas shortage, the power breakdown had left residents with no options for even making tea or coffee in the morning.

The owner of a laundry business, Mohammad Gulzar, said he had to give people their clothes back as in the absence of electricity, he could not complete his work and that many people had come asking for the clothes they had to wear for Friday prayers and had returned disappointed.

The operations of Pakistan Railways were also affected with the power breakdown and the railway workshop had to stop working for several hours.

However, Pakistan Railways Rawalpindi Divisional Superintendent Abdul Malick told Dawn that train schedules had not been disturbed by the power outage.

Mr Malick said the Railway department had generators on standby for lights and other services to run smoothly.

The break down was longer in Taxila, Wah, Hassanabdal and their adjoining areas which experienced a power cut for eight hours, bringing daily life to a standstill.

According to the National Transmission and Dispatch Company, the breakdown happened due to a technical fault in the power supply lines.

The power cut which started at around 9:30am caused 15 power plants to stop operations and inconvenienced people, especially worshipers some of whom could not find water for ablution.

Similarly, many traders also suffered losses, including welders, photocopiers and tailors.

Mohammed Imran, who is a tailor, said this was the worst time for a tailor to be going through a power outage as the wedding season was at its peak and a typical tailor had to make dozens of dresses a day.

“Because of the power cut, my business has suffered a lot today,” he said.

A similar, prolonged power cut was also experienced last year across the country.

Published in Dawn, January 16th, 2016