ISLAMABAD, May 6: The Capital Development Authority (CDA) is installing a 4-MW power generator at the President House at the cost of Rs90 million to ensure uninterrupted power supply, a source told Dawn on Thursday.

The source said with the installation of the generator, the CDA would not only be able to provide power to the President House, but also to parliament building, supreme court building and prime minister secretariat.

The generator is being installed by a foreign firm and the project will be completed before June. The source said the authority was also considering using the generator for supplying electricity to embassies in Diplomatic Enclave in case of power failure.

The generator is being installed to avoid any power suspension at the President House like the one which took place last year, he said. "In the incident, the stand-by generator took five seconds to start functioning," he added.

The five-second power breakdown at midnight created a panic in the building and an inquiry was ordered into the incident. Another source in the CDA said the existing stand-by power generator installed at the building, lacked capacity to provide power for all electrical appliances.

Therefore, a powerful generator was needed to ensure uninterrupted power supply. The source said a distribution system would be installed along with the generator so that the existing power network in he building could bear the load.