- Areas of Johar Town, Raiwind Road, Township, Garhi Shahu, Baghbanpura, Dharampura, Multan Road and six grid stations in Johar Town, Fateh Garh, Shalimar-1, Shalimar-2, Bhogiwal and Iqbal Town face hours long load shedding as 220 KV transformer in Wapda Town develops a fault
Most parts of the provincial capital witnessed hours-long electricity load shedding due to a fault in the 220 KV transformer in Wapda Town, tormenting people in humid weather, while residents of College Road in Township area took to streets against the Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) over suspension of electricity to their area for the past three days.
Areas of Johar Town, Raiwind Road, Township, Garhi Shahu, Baghbanpura, Dharampura, Multan Road and six grid stations in Johar Town, Fateh Garh, Shalimar-1, Shalimar-2, Bhogiwal and Iqbal Town faced unannounced power cuts when the main transformer in Wapda Town developed a fault, compounding problems of the people who were taken aback by unpreparedness of the LESCO management.
According to the recent power load management schedule, the LESCO had to carry out powers outages of up to six hours in urban areas and of eight hours in rural areas, but it failed to manage the load, despite strict warning by Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif and State Minister of Water and Power Abid Sher Ali to facilitate the citizens.
A source in the power sector claimed that the (power) generation companies (Gencos) had increased their generation during Ramzan to facilitate the citizens, but now they had reduced their generation. Despite change in the weather, the total demand in the country still stood at 20,000 MW, he added.
Residents of Township were badly affected due to power electricity triggered by the faulty transformer in Wapda Town. To give vent to their anger, many residents staged a protest against the LESCO and burnt tyres, blocking College Road for many hours which created problems for pedestrians and motorists alike. However, after assurances by senior LESCO officials they ended their protest.
A spokesperson for the LESCO told Pakistan Today that due to the fault in the main transformer unannounced power cuts were carried out in different parts of the city. He said that being one of major transformers, this transformer was linked with other feeders and grid stations. He however added that the LESCO had fixed the transformer and it was functional now.
Nevertheless, sources in the LESCO informed Pakistan Today that an inquiry committee was being formed to present its finding, as the fault in the 220 KV transformer in Wapda Town was not a minor issue.
It may be mentioned that the LESCO is facing a shortfall of 701 MW, since it is receiving 2935 MW from the Gencos against its demand of 3636 MW.
