KARACHI: Most of the city plunged into darkness at around 5am on Friday when the 500kV Hub-Jamshoro transmission line tripped because of dense fog.

The line is part of the National Transmission and Despatch Company’s distribution system.

As a result of the outage, the Defence Housing Authority, Clifton, Saddar, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Tariq Road, Sharea Faisal, Gulshan-i-Maymar, Buffer Zone, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Safoora Goth, Steel Town, Shadman Town, Gurumandir, Lasbela, Liaquatabad, Lyari, Ranchore Line, Shah Latif Town and Federal B Area remained the worst affected.

According to a K-Electric spokesperson, restoration work started immediately after the tripping and most of the grids were brought back on line within a few hours. This was made possible thanks to alternative supply from the 220kV KDA/Jamshoro transmission line.

Work for restoration of supply to strategic installations such as the airport, major hospitals and the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board’s pumping stations was carried out as a priority.

A statement issued by the KE later said supply to most of the residential and commercial areas was restored within a short span of time although Dawn kept receiving complaints about people missing a phase or two or voltage fluctuations till late evening.

The KE apologised to its consumers for the inconvenience, while promising to look into any issues in their areas.

Reuters adds: The breakdown left about 90 per cent of the city without electricity and brought much of normal life to a standstill.

The third major outage of the country’s electricity grid within a month forced shops, hospitals and businesses to turn to back-up generators.

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2016

Opinion

Editorial

What now?
20 Sep, 2024

What now?

Govt's actions could turn the reserved seats verdict into a major clash between institutions. It is a risky and unfortunate escalation.
IHK election farce
20 Sep, 2024

IHK election farce

WHILE India will be keen to trumpet the holding of elections in held Kashmir as a return to ‘normalcy’, things...
Donating organs
20 Sep, 2024

Donating organs

CERTAIN philanthropic practices require a more scientific temperament than ours to flourish. Deceased organ donation...
Lingering concerns
19 Sep, 2024

Lingering concerns

Embarrassed after failing to muster numbers during the high-stakes drama that played out all weekend, the govt will need time to regroup.
Pager explosions
Updated 19 Sep, 2024

Pager explosions

This dangerous brinkmanship is likely to drag the region — and the global economy — into a vortex of violence and instability.
Losing to China
19 Sep, 2024

Losing to China

AT a time when they should have stepped up, a sense of complacency seemed to have descended on the Pakistan hockey...