QUETTA, Aug 7: Power supply — suspended to 19 districts of the province on Monday night when two main circuits of the 220KV industrial grid were closed near Sibi due to heavy rains and thunderstorm — was not restored to 18 districts till Tuesday night.

The supply was restored only to the provincial capital on Tuesday morning.

A pylon carrying 220KV transmission line supplying electricity to the 19 districts was badly damaged in the Bolan area due to landslides, which also blocked the Quetta-Sukkur National Highway.

“We are facing shortage of 550MW electricity due to the closure of the two circuits of 220KV transmission line near Sibi,” a spokesman for the Quetta Electricity Supply Company said, adding that a loadshedding plan had been worked out to meet the crisis. He said Quetta would face four hours of daily loadshedding and the other districts of 18 hours.

He said work to replace the damaged pylon could not be started because of heavy flood in the Bolan River which had cut the road link. Quetta is getting electricity from a private gas-based power plant which produces 95MW power for Wapda.