LAHORE: Besides loadshedding and brownouts, the people in Lahore and adjoining districts also faced occasional power shutdowns on Monday by the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco).

The company had to suspend power supplies because of various development works.

At present, besides regular loadshedding, Lesco observes shutdowns for six to 10 hours once or twice a week to shift poles, 11kV or 132kV cables, from one place to another because of various development projects, such as Canal Road widening and Orange Line Projects.

“These days, the canal road widening project has become a great headache for us, as we have to observe shutdown time to time for shifting of services,” said a Lesco official. “Besides Canal Road, Lesco also observes shutdowns due to shifting of services at various locations in the wake of the construction of the orange line train project. The Lesco people have to face the public wrath.”

He said besides this, Lesco also observed shutdowns for performing various technical jobs. A couple of days back, Lesco teams replaced a 25MVA with the new 40MVA transformer at township grid, which was not possible without a long shutdown.

About the unannounced loadshedding and brownouts, the official said Lesco, because of the constrains in 500kV and 220kV transmission lines and the dispatch system of the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC), had to to make temporary arrangement for giving relief to hundreds of thousands of consumers.

“Recently, we have shifted load of five 132kV consumer grid stations from the Sheikhupura overloaded 500kV grid to the 220kV Kala Shah Kaku grid. Similarly, various other 132kV grids’ load was shifted from 220kV Kot Lakhpat to other of 220kV grid stations. Similarly, the load of a couple of 132kV grid stations in Johar town is also being shifted to 220kV Wapda town grid,” the official explained. These arrangements were temporary, as the permanent solution was to end constraints in the NTDC as well as distribution systems, he said.

INTERVIEWS: A committee by the Pakistan Electric Power Company (Pepco) conducted on Monday interviews of over 40 superintendent engineers for their promotion to as chief engineer for 16 seats. After promotion, successful candidates will be left at the disposal of Pepco.

Published in Dawn, August 22nd, 2017