At least five electricity grid stations were shut down on Friday, causing around 50 feeders across the city to trip and leaving several areas of the city in complete darkness. The problem in the grid stations erupted at 9am on Friday, leaving several areas falling in LESCO’s Salamat Pura sub division without electricity. The areas affected by the problem included Shalimar I&II, Bogeywal, Batapur and Chah Miran. Power had not been restored to these areas until night by the time this report was filed. The weather in the city remained extremely humid on Friday and insiders said extra load on the power system might have forced the grid stations to shut down. The power breakdown forced the people out of their homes in protest. They lamented the government’s apathy towards the citizens as they shouted slogans against the rulers. Prior to the holy month of Ramadan, the government had promised the nation that there would be no load shedding in Ramadan during at least Sehr and Iftar times, however, with the Ramadan seeing its last days, the promise remains to be fulfilled. There have been massive protests against continued load shedding in Ramadan across the country throughout the holy month, but the power supply situation has not seen any improvement. A couple of days ago, Prime Minister Raja Pervez Ashraf chaired a cabinet meeting in which he came down hard on bureaucracy for failing to ensure continued power supply. He gave a stern warning to officials to improve the situation and asked for a report immediately after Eid.
