Blackout: After major breakdown, power being gradually restored in cities across Pakistan

• The blackout occurred minutes before midnight across the country, with citizens taking to social media to report outages.
  
• The energy minister said the power breakdown occurred when the frequency in NTDC suddenly fell from 50 to zero.
• Electricity supply restored in some parts of Karachi, Lahore.

Restoration work is in progress after a major power breakdown plunged the entire country into darkness late Saturday, Federal Minister for Energy Omar Ayub Khan said in a statement early Sunday.

The blackout occurred minutes before midnight across the country, with citizens taking to social media to report outages. As outages hit major cities, mobile and internet services were also affected.

The energy minister said the power breakdown occurred when the frequency in the national power distribution system (NTDC) suddenly fell from 50 to zero, adding that the matter was being investigated and attempts were being made to restart the Tarbela Power Station and restore supply.

Read more: 'Blackout': Massive power outage in Pakistan as several cities plunge into darkness

Omar Ayub said he was personally supervising the restoration work and has been periodically sharing restoration updates on his Twitter account.

Areas where power has been restored:

The energy minister said 500kv and 220 kv grid stations have been restored across the country and power supply has resumed in Rahim Yar Khan, Bahawalpur, Dharki, Guddu, Rohri, Shikarpur, Dera Murad Jamali, Sivi, Quetta, Peshawar, Islamabad, Jhelum, Lahore, Multan, Sahiwal, Faisalabad, Gujranwala, Sialkot, and Sargodha. 

"Teams are busy restoring electricity for other cities," he added. 

Earlier today, he said the power has been restored at all Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco) stations, restoring supply in Gujrat and Mandi Bahauddin districts. 


Power has also been restored at the 500kv Rawat-Naukhar circuit and the 500kv Tarberla-Rawat circuit.

Omar Ayub said 132kv grid stations around Lahore have been energised including Shadman, Qartaba, Mc Leod Road, Gulshan Ravi, Fort, Saidpur, Shamke, Sagihan, Ravi, Bund Road, Badami Bagh, Sabzar, Sheikhupura, Orient, and Sapphire. 

In Karachi, K-Electric said in an early morning statement that power has been restored at Federal B Area, Landhi, Malir, North Karachi, some areas along Shahra e Faisal, Valika society, and some parts of Baloch Colony.

According to Geo News, power has also been restored in some parts of Gulistan-e-Johar, North Nazimabad, New Karachi, Saddar, Bahadurabad, Naya Nazimabad, SITE, Korangi, Manghopir, and near the airport. 

Meanwhile, the power supply remains suspended in most districts of Balochistan, including Quetta city.

Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) said electricity has been restored in some parts of Peshawar as 36% of the grid stations have been energized.