ISLAMABAD – Pakistan, a country of over 220 million people, suffered a huge power cut in January after a massive breakdown in the national grid that left millions without electricity for nearly a whole day.
The prolonged power outage prompted a strong reaction from the country’s top leadership as Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif formed an inquiry committee which was spearheaded by the Minister of State for Petroleum.
Nearly a month after the massive outage, the investigators have submitted a report to the federal cabinet, blaming National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC) for the countrywide power breakdown.
In the report, investigators put NTDC officials, power control management and the shift in-charge as responsible for the country-wide blackout. It mentioned that the fluctuation of power supply from the south forced a blackout, and to balance the production of the system, changes were made to Ghazi Bharota plant which further worsened the situation.
Massive power breakdown hits Lahore, Karachi and other Pakistani cities
The investigators maintained that a timely response could have saved the situation as million were left without power for more than 15 hours.
Power partially restored in Pakistan around 15 hours after nationwide blackout
