Rawalpindi/Islamabad - A massive power outage was experienced in all areas of Rawalpindi and Islamabad on Wednesday when WAPDA suspended the supply of electricity across the twin cities at 9:30am. The consumers were left in the dark till about 6 pm when the electricity was restored.
The breakdown led to an outrage on social media and the consumers demanded the authorities concerned to utilize all the resources to control the situation.
A technical fault at the Tarbela power plant early Wednesday resulted in the breakdown of electricity in most parts of Punjab and Khyber Pakhtunkhwa (KP), informed WAPDA. The other cities affected by the blackout include Lahore, Multan, Bahawalpur as well as Peshawar, Swat and Lakki Marwat.
The breakdown paralyzed normal life and left consumers at the mercy of UPS and generators.
As a result, all the generators, UPS and other electronic appliances became dysfunctional.
Residents of various areas faced severe water shortage due to the outage. Huge traffic jams were experienced in the city as the traffic signals were powered off and the traffic police had to control the situation on roads. Doctors in the government and private hospitals had to postpone several operations due to the power breakdown. On the other hand, the ATMs of almost all banks stopped operating and the consumers could not retrieve money from ATMs.
The areas affected by the power outage include Saddar, Kashmir Road, Haider Road, Adam Jee Road, Rashid Minhas Road, Koyla Centre, Babu Mohala, Ganjmanid, Gawalmandi, Raja Bazaar, City Saddar Road, Sooter Mandi, Bhabra Bazaar, Purana Qilla, Pirwadhai, Hazara Colony, Kashmir Colony, Fauji Colony, Badar Colony, IJ Principal Road, Commercial, Double Road, Sixth Road, Seventh Road, Faizabad, Dhoke Kala Khan, Farooq-e-Azam Road, Sadiqabad, Shakrial, Muslim Town, Trolley Terminal, Kuri Road, Chah Sultan, Rawal Road, Chandni Chowk, Waris Khan, Iqbal Road, Committee Chowk, Dhoke Elahi Bux, Ammar Pura, Mareer Chowk, Liaquat Road, Arya Mohala, Chaman Zar, Tipu Road, Dhoke Mustaqeem, Raja Zafar ul Haq Road, Dhoke Ratta, Dhoke Mangtal, Westridge, Peshawar Road, Misrial Road, Chakra, Dhoke Syedan, Baraf Khana Chowk, Noon Sharif, Girja, Thallian, Chakri Road, Siham, Chehan, Chontra, Adiala Village, Gorakhpur, Dehgal, Shahpur, Gulshanabad, Kalyal, Kalri, Landco, Rehman Markaz, Morgah, Meera, Dhamial Kalyal Road, Dhamial, Hayyal, Bank Colony, Ashraf Colony, Liaquat Colony, Bunda Nagyal, Bakra Mandi, Tahli Mohri, Dheri Hassanabad, Tulsa, Lalkurti, Firdousi Road, Iftikhar Ul Haq Road, GHQ, Chungi Number 22, Tench Bhatta, People Colony, Dhama Syedan. Sadiq Town, Mumtaz Market, Kekashan Colony, Dhoke Paharian, Mubarak Lane, Nadir Street, Caltax Road, Lalazar, New Lalazar and many other areas.
Teams have reached the power plant along with the secretary of the Power Division, with work immediately starting to fix the fault.
No timeline has been given as to when the repairs are expected to finish.
Earlier breakdowns at the power plant had seen the repairs take up to seven to eight hours. A spokesperson of the Atomic Energy Commission said the tripping of lines from the Tarbela plant caused all four Chashma Nuclear Power Plants to trip as well.
israr ahmed
