Electricity Archives - Lokmarg

Severe Snowfall Hits Life In Lahaul-Spiti

By LokMarg 9th March 2024

Electricity, water supply and communications networks were disrupted in the Kaza area of Lahaul-Spiti district in the upper reaches of Himachal Pradesh on Saturday after a fresh of snowfall across the state, an official said.

Normal life was thrown out of gear in the tribal areas of the district following near-relentless snowfall over three consecutive days–on March 2, 3 and 4.

Speaking to ANI over a satellite phone, an official from the local administration said the entire communication system in the area fell apart following fresh snowfall and only satellite phones were working.

Along with communication lines, the power and water supply have also been hampered by the elements, the official informed.

All communication networks and water supply could only be restored once the power lines and up and running again, the official added.

Further, the official informed further work was underway on a war footing to restore electricity and communication lines at the earliest.

He said several roadways, including three national highways, have been closed in the region in light of the snowfall.

An official in the state disaster management department informed that 346 roads, including 3 national highways, are closed while 365 electricity supply schemes have been hampered and 8 water supply schemes have been disrupted in the wake of the snowfall.

In Lahaul -Spiti district, two national highways and 260 roads are closed and 155 electricity supply schemes have been disrupted.

Earlier, on March 3, an avalanche struck Lahaul’s Tandi Bridg, partially burying shops in the area.

However, no casualties or major losses were reported in the incident. (ANI)

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Incessant Flash Floods Ravage Manali

By LokMarg 12th July 2023

Incessant rain, which has led to flash floods and landslides, has caused significant damage in Himachal Pradesh’s Manali.

Himachal Pradesh Minister Jagat Singh Negi said that the flash floods have damaged the national highway and disrupted water and electricity supply.

“The Manali Vidhansabha constituency has suffered significant damage due to flash floods. Houses, land, and gardens have been destroyed, and the national highway is damaged due to flash floods. The link road adjacent to the bridge is also badly damaged. There is no net connectivity, electricity and water. We have made arrangements to provide food to the stranded tourists,” Negi said.

Due to incessant rainfall in the region, many tourists have been stranded in Manali.

Internet services and electricity supply have been disrupted due to the flood in the area.

Neha, a tourist from, Ludhiana, Punjab said, “We want to go home. We were scheduled to return on Sunday but we are stuck due to flood.”

Another tourist, Sanjeev Arora, said they have been trying to go back for the past two days.

“We are here in Manali since 5th July. The main track is damaged. We have been trying to go back for the past two days. The internet services and electricity supply is disrupted,” he added.

Meanwhile, Himachal Chief Minister’s Office informed that 2000 people stranded in the Kasol area have been evacuated so far.

“So far 2000 people stranded in the Kasol area of Kullu district have been evacuated. On the way at one point named Dunkhara, there is a heavy landslide and one poclain and two machines have been deployed round the clock to clear the Kasol-Bhuntar road. A team of the district administration has reached Kasol. More than 2200 vehicles have passed through Kullu from Manali so far and food is being distributed to them at Ramshilla Chowk. CM Sukhvinder Singh Sukhu is closely monitoring the situation”, the CMO statement said.

Speaking on the relief and rescue operations being conducted in the state amidst heavy rainfall, acting DGP of Himachal Pradesh Satwant Atwal Trivedi said that evacuation procedure is underway with 1000 vehicles already having left from Kullu – Manali and are enroute to Chandigarh.

The Nurpur police on Wednesday informed that water will be released from Pandoh Dam (Mandi) from 6 pm today to 3 pm tomorrow due to incessant rains in the district.

“People are urged not to go near low-lying areas like rivers, drains and dam areas for the next few days”, the Nurpur Police said.

Meanwhile, Congress MLA from Manali Bhuvneshwar Gaur hit out at the National Highway Authority of India (NHAI) over the poor construction of the highways which were washed away during the flash floods. (ANI)

Many Pakistanis Face Power Outages For 14 Hours Daily

By LokMarg 25th June 2023

With an increase in power demand, people have been facing electricity outages spanning up to 14 hours a day, Pakistan-based The News International reported. Power outages have been witnessed in an election year, indicating that something is seriously flawed in the energy establishment of Pakistan.

On Saturday, the temperature reached over 40°C in the majority of regions of Pakistan and it increased the power demand significantly, stretching the national grid’s total energy requirement up to 29,000 MW – 30,000 MW. However, electricity generation could not pick up beyond 22,600 MW despite having a generation capacity close to 50,000 MW, The News International reported citing sources.
People in Pakistan have to face multifaceted chronic problems when it comes to power supply. Their suffering continues unabated in the winter and summer seasons. Residents are deprived of a power supply on one account or another, which includes so-called load management plans, approved shutdowns, technical power failures, and intense fluctuations in voltage, The News International reported.

A relatively new phenomenon of intense nocturnal load-shedding has further added misery to the already suffering people of Pakistan due to power cuts. Power outages during night time have been witnessed at an all-time high. People now face load-shedding for 3-6 hours in urban regions every day in comparison to earlier 1-2 hours between 7 pm – 5 pm, as per the news report.

Meanwhile, Pakistan’s federal Power Minister has expressed a different view of what is going on in the country in terms of power demand and supply, The News International reported. On Saturday, he claimed that over-four-hours-a-day power suspension is being made in only three per cent of feeders in the national power grid.

Citing the power figures of June 23, he said a new national record of 30,089 MW power demand has been set. He claimed that 92 per cent of feeders in Pakistan suffered less than 3 hours of load-shedding per day. Power outages on account of technical failures or overloading of systems have not been included in the data shared by the minister.

Power supply during the past 24 hours or so to people residing in more than 500 feeders of Lahore Electric Power Company (LESCO) has been suspended due to tripping of the system. One of the examples of this connection has been Tajbagh, Fatehgargh, and surrounding areas, the report said.

The majority of these regions have been out of power since the early hours of Saturday. The suffering of people began with the toppling of the whole distribution system and now they are facing extreme fluctuations in the power supply, damaging their electrical appliances.

Even though efforts have been made by the power utility to bifurcate areas by creating an independent Tajbagh feeder, The News International reported. However, such a half-baked solution without the installation of augmented hardware proved a futile exercise, resulting in people living in the areas suffering unimaginable misery in the absence of vital energy supplies.

The extreme heat can cause overloading of the distribution network, resulting in rolling blackouts, the report said. However, a lack of proper customer service and the inimical behaviour of local employees left people without a sustained power supply. (ANI)

Protests In Gilgit-Baltistan Over Wheat, Power Shortage

By LokMarg 1st March 2023

People in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir (Pok), Gilgit-Baltistan protested in two districts over the shortage of electricity and wheat, Dawn reported.

According to the Pakistani newspaper, in Gilgit Baltistan, many residents including women gathered at the intersection and blocked Shahrah-i-Quaid-i-Azam in continued protest against 22 hours of daily power outages in their area.

Protesters at Zulfiqarabad Chowk chanted slogans against the government and said the crisis had been going on for the last two weeks. The residents said they were sometimes deprived of even two hours of daily electricity supply, making their lives difficult amid winter.

On top of it, they were also faced with wheat shortage, the protesters said and blamed the government for failing to provide even necessities to people, according to Dawn.

One of the protesters said that the Gilgit Baltistan Chief Minister should be here to resolve public issues, but he was in Lahore “to protect former prime minister Imran Khan”.

Later, the protesters dispersed peacefully after Amin Baig, coordinator to the chief minister, negotiated with them and assured them of resolving their issues immediately.

Meanwhile, the residents of Ghanche’s Barah village, the hometown of GB Local Government Minister Haji Abdul Hameed, also staged a protest against the wheat shortage.

The demonstrators blocked Siachen Road and staged a sit-in to press the government to fulfil their demands, reported Dawn.

Prolonged power cuts have led to frequent angry demonstrations in Pakistan-controlled Kashmir and Gilgit-Baltistan. Skardu city has been left totally without electricity for the past three months. Load-shedding has become a daily occurrence.

Power shortage is not the only issue for the ACC protesters. Wheat and flour have disappeared from the shops, according to reports in Baad-e-Shimal, Daily K2.

The power situation has worsened over the years despite the abundance of water resources in a region that is reputedly

Pakistan’s principal water reservoir. But only 16 per cent of the capacity for hydropower generation has been utilized so far.

The estimated total hydropower potential of Pakistan is around 60,000 MW. Currently, the hydro installed capacity is only 10,251MW, around 25 per cent of the total installed capacity. Successive governments have resorted to imports as an easy solution.

Writing in The News International (February 21, 2023), irrigation and power engineer Ali Rehmat Shimshali points to the overall neglect of hydropower and preference for fuel-based power generation. (ANI)