LARKANA: The world heritage site of Mohenjo Daro, alongside vast areas of Larkana and Qambar-Shahdadkot districts, remained without electricity for a third consecutive day, Friday, despite hectic efforts by the power utility to cope with the situation.
Although the massive power breakdown had hit most areas of the Larkana and Sukkur divisions due to a powerful windstorm and downpour on Monday evening, the utility’s failure to restore the supply is now being attributed to a major theft of high tension cables.
While the engineers, technicians and workers of the Sukkur Electric Supply Company (Sepco) were busy mending the damage caused to the pylons, poles and installations by the storm and downpour, they on Friday found around 4,000 feet of high-tension cables having been stolen. The work to restore power supply to the vast area having a population of millions could not, therefore, be completed till late in the evening.
Larkana and Qambar-Shahdadkot have been registering extremely high temperatures over the last week. Some areas even sizzled at 50 degrees Celsius. The power outage, already running into 72 hours and without showing a sign of ending soon, has badly affected the daily routine of the affected families, both indoors and outdoors.
Mohenjo Daro among affected areas; Sepco says around 4,000 feet of high-tension cables stolen while repair work was underway after storm
According to Sepco officials, while the repair work on a war footing was underway at the sites where poles were brought down by stormy winds, thieves exploited the dark to steal cables from 11 to 22 locations (poles carrying double circuit of 132 kV) near the Mangi Mehar area of Garhi Yasin in Shikarpur district.
Sepco chief Aijaz Ahmed Channa was personally present at one site to oversee the operation to restore electricity. As soon as he left the site, two separate theft attempts were made during the night but were foiled by the staff. However, cables and other equipment were stolen in the early hours of Friday, frustrating all efforts to deal with the breakdown situation, the staff at the site said.
Meanwhile, tracker dogs were being used to hunt down the thieves in the nearby areas.
Mr Channa confirmed to Dawn that an FIR was being lodged against unknown criminals. He also appealed to Larkana DIG Nasir Aftab Pathan and Shikarpur SSP Kaleem Malik to help capture the culprits ensure recovery of the stolen articles.
On his part, Chairman of the Sepco Board of Directors Ghulam Mustafa Laghari told reporters that he was deeply concerned over the major theft. He said that he immediately contacted the Sindh Home Minister and Larkana DIG to seek a swift action.
Sepco has also dispatched replacement cables and equipment from Sukkur to Garhi Yasin to ensure restoration of power supply to the affected region by Friday night.
Protest
In Shahdadkot, affected families staged a sit-in at Koto Moto Chowk in the evening over the prolonged power breakdown.
The protesters blocked the main road disrupting flow of vehicular traffic.
The protest was held in response to a call given by the Citizens’ Alliance. Leaders of the legal fraternity and various other civil society organisations led the protest.
Speaking to the participants, Comrade Wahab Pandrani, Hubdar Mirjat, Rameez Tunio and Ms Naheed Khuhawar condemned the prolonged power breakdown amid harsh weather conditions.
“In this scorching heat, clean and cold drinking water is not available. Women and children are writhing in the heat, and ice has become both expensive and scarce,” the leaders said, and accused Sepco officials of gross negligence and deliberate delays.
The protesters also criticised elected representatives of the districts for their absence and indifference. “They did not stand by the people in this difficult time,” they said.
Published in Dawn, June 6th, 2026