Power networks fully restored across Pakistan

Gulf Today Report

Power networks were fully restored across Pakistan as of Tuesday morning, a senior government source told the media.

The restoration comes 24 hours after a breakdown in the national grid that triggered the worst electricity outage in months, leaving tens of millions of people without power.

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Power had returned to most cities across Pakistan on Tuesday, a day after a nationwide breakdown left the country of 220 million people without electricity.

The outage started around 7:30am (0230 GMT) on Monday, a failure linked to a cost-cutting measure as Pakistan grapples with an economic crisis.

Shopkeepers sit at a market during a nationwide power outage, in Islamabad on Monday. AFP

Energy Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan said on Monday evening that power was being gradually restored.

Electricity largely returned to mega cities Karachi and Lahore overnight, but with localised and brief falls in connection continuing.

The capital Islamabad and other cities, including Rawalpindi, Quetta, Peshawar and Gujranwala, also reported that the lights were back on.

However, some rural areas were still waiting to be reconnected.

The country's power system is a complex and delicate web, where problems can quickly cascade.

Khan said a variation in frequency on the national grid caused the cut, as power generation units were turned on early Monday morning.

A view shows buildings during country-wide power breakdown in Karachi, Pakistan, on Monday. Reuters

The units are temporarily switched off on winter nights to save fuel, he had told reporters earlier.

Localised power cuts are common in Pakistan, and hospitals, factories and government institutions are often kept running by private generators. But the machines are beyond the means of most citizens and small businesses.

In parts of northern Pakistan, temperatures were due to drop below freezing overnight with supplies of natural gas — the most common heating method -- also unreliable due to load-shedding.