QUETTA: Gas supply to nine districts of Balochistan was suspended on Tuesday after two main pipelines were blown up near Dera Murad Jamali in Nasirabad district.
Buddhal Khan, a member of the Levies Force, received serious burn injuries.A relief camp set up by the Turkish Red Cross was damaged, officials told Dawn.
The gas supply was affected only in the districts of Jaffarabad, Nasirabad, Sibi, Bolan, Quetta, Mastung, Kalat, Pishin and Ziarat because the other 21 districts of the province don't have the facility at all.
Sarbaz Baloch of the Baloch Liberation Army claimed responsibility for blowing up gas pipelines.
Soon after the incident, Levies Force and personnel of other law-enforcement agencies reached the blast site and cordoned off the area.
Sources in the Sui Southern Gas Company said high explosives planted along the two pipelines supplying gas to Balochistan from Shikarpur, near Toll Plaza area between Dera Murad Jamali and Dera Allahyar, were blown up at 8.45 in the morning.
“Our two main gas pipelines of 12 and 18 inches diameter were destroyed in the explosions,” SSGC spokesman Inayatullah Ismail told Dawn. A big portion of both the pipelines was blown up, he added.
He said the gas supply had been cut off to Habibullah coastal power plant in Quetta, industrial units and all CNG stations in the affected districts.
He said supply to Quetta would continue for some time through line pack, but it could be stopped any time because of suspension in supply from Shikarpur to Balochistan.
Official sources said that the fire was brought under control after several hours.
The sources said two pylons of high-powered transmission line supplying electricity to Sibi and Quetta were also partially damaged by the fire.
A senior official of the Nasirabad district administration told that the SSGC authorities had dispatched a team along with machinery and other equipment from Sukkur, but the repair work could not be launched before their arrival in Dera Murad Jamali.
However, the SSGC officials in Dera Murad Jamali, who visited the incident site, said repair work would be launched soon after getting security clearance.
Sources in the company said they had no idea how long would it take to restore gas supply.
Electricity problem
Meanwhile, the electricity situation grew worse in Balochistan after the suspension of gas supply to Habibullah coastal power plant in Quetta and the blowing up of four pylons in Aab-i-Gum area.
The private power plant, having a capacity of 120 MW, was generating just 15 MW after switching over to diesel from gas.
“We are receiving just 60 to 70 MW supply from the private plant and Loralai-Harnai transmission line,” a spokesman for the Quetta Electric Supply Company (Quesco) told Dawn, adding the shortage of electricity had increased to over 1,000 MW.
He said the power supply available at present could feed only some parts of Quetta. “There is no power supply to other 14 districts of the province for the last 48 hours,” he said.
Quetta city may face loadshedding of 12 to 14 hours daily because of a huge decline in power supply from the national grid.
Out of 44 grid stations, 40 were affected in Quetta and other districts of the province after suspension of power supply from two high-power transmission lines.Engineers and other technical staff of Quesco and the National Transmission and Dispatch Company launched repair work in Aab-i-Gum area where four pylons of 220 KV and 132-KV double-circuit transmission lines were blown up on Saturday.
“The authorities concerned issued security clearance for starting the repair work on Tuesday,” official sources said. A heavy contingent of Frontier Corps, Balochistan Constabulary and Levies Force had been deployed in the area to provide security to the staff working on the site, they added.
The sources said although the repair work had been launched, a timeframe could not be given for a complete restoration of power supply from the national grid. “The engineers and technical staff were making all-out efforts to restore power supply as soon as possible,” they said.
The people of Quetta were also facing water shortage because tubewells could not be operated without electricity.
Baloch Liberation Army spokesman Merak Baloch has claimed responsibility for blowing up four pylons in Aab-i-Gum area.
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