KARACHI – A massive power outage has been reported from several cities across Pakistan. The cities facing disruption include Karachi, Lahore, Peshawar, Multan, Quetta, Rawalpindi, Faisalabad, Muzaffargarh, Narowal, Bhakkar, Kabirwala, Khanewal, Bahwalpur and Sukkur.
The breakdown extended as far as Azad Kashmir. Furthermore, according to Geo News’ Nadeem Kausar, 29 districts of Balochistan are without power. He said mobile and internet services have also been affected due to the breakdown.
Geo News quoted a Power Division spokesperson as urging against rumour mongering. A 500kVA transmission line has tripped, reported Geo News, adding that Jhelum, Tarbela and Mangla power dams are shut.
Islamabad
In Islamabad, all sectors are without power, reported Geo News.
Karachi
Within Karachi, outages were reported from Korangi, Defence, Garden, Clifton, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, MA Jinnah Road, II Chundrigar Road, Liaquatabad, and FB Area.
Even the Jinnah International Airport remained without power.
Power minister explains issue
Minister for Power Omar Ayub, in a statement on Twitter, said that the “frequency in the power distribution system suddenly dropped from 50 to 0 which caused the blackout”.
“We are trying to ascertain what caused the drop in frequency.”
Ayub said that Tarbela “will be activated so a phase wise restoration can be carried out”. He requested the nation to exercise patience.
“All of our teams have reached their respective stations. As the Minister for Power I am personally overseeing the work for restoration of power.
“We will keep you updated periodically over the progress in power restoration,” he added.
