DADU, April 19: The power supply to some parts of Dadu and Larkana districts was suspended on Sunday when a fire broke out in the 132kv Mehar grid station. According to sources, the incident occurred after grid station's cables caught fire due to heavy load. The fire was extinguished at 10:55pm.

The power supply to various towns - including Betto, Fareedabad, Radhan, Thariri Mohbat, Nau Goth, Mado, Gozo, Thebat, Dero Piaro Goth, Kakar Khanpur, Qazi Arif, Sindhi Butra - besides other areas linked to the 132kv Naseerabad grid station was suspended.

On Monday, a Hesco official claimed that power supply to Radhan, Khairpur Nathan Shah and Naseerabad talukas had been restored from Dadu grid station but added that the supply to the towns of Mehar taluka would be restored on Tuesday.

However, his claim was not be confirmed by independent sources. Meanwhile, a large number of villagers staged a demonstration in Mehar and Khairpur Nathan Shah towns against closure of power supply.

The Chief Engineer, Hesco, Mohammad Sharif Ansari, told newsmen after visiting the grid station on Monday that the fire had broken out due to a technical fault in underground cables of 132KV.

He said that three panels (main supplying instruments) had been destroyed and two damaged by the fire. He said that the loss at the Mehar gird station was estimated at Rs1.5 million and 45 employees were working there.

DEMO: Meanwhile, a large number of residents of different areas of Mehar and Khairpur Nathan Shah talukas held a demonstration in Mehar on Monday to protest against suspension of power supply to their areas since Sunday night. They were led by president, Jeay Sindh Qaumi Mahaz, Mehar taluka, Akbar Khokhar.