Govt unable to restore power supply even after over 30 hours

Irshadullah Khan

CHITRAL: The Chitral town and other areas of Lower Chitral getting electricity from Golen Gol powerhouse are without power for over 30 hours.

However, the government departments concerned failed to restore the power supply even after about 30 hours, creating lots of problems for the consumers in the scorching heat.

The major power breakdown hit the area due to a fault in the Golen Gol power station. 

After over 24 hours of the fault, the deputy commissioner of Lower Chitral stated in a social media post that it was in contact with the Golen Gol powerhouse management and work to fix the fault was underway.

The 108 megawatt capacity Golen Gol powerhouse is currently producing about 70 megawatts and Chitral’s total requirement  is about 12 megawatts.

The powerhouse being operated on manual system frequently faces tripping due to even minor faults.

The prolonged outage caused by negligence and inability to fix the issue by WAPDA, district administration and other concerned has sparked widespread outrage and frustration among the masses, with many taking to the streets.

Former President of Chitral Trade Union Shabbir Ahmed condemned the prolonged outage and held elected representatives responsible for the crisis.

He demanded immediate restoration of power supply and action against those responsible for the outage.