Karachi power supply has returned to normal, says KE

• KE spokesperon says power was restored to the city within a few hours. 
• KE plants were not shut down, power to residential and commercial users was restored by 11pm, he says.
• KE on high alert due to the rain forecast, will try to prevent further power outages.

The power supply in Karachi has returned to normal, K-Electric said Thursday after several areas of the metropolis were bereft of electricity a day earlier.

A high power transmission line tripped Wednesday, resulting in a power outage in a large number of areas in Karachi, besides other areas in Sindh. 

Read more: Even after several hours, power not fully restored in Karachi

Speaking about the outage, K-Electric Director Communications Imran Rana said the power utility company had developed a safety mechanism under which KE plants shift to island mode whenever a fault is detected in the circuit.

He said after the Jamshoro grid station was struck by lightning, K-Electric and the National Transmission & Despatch Company (NTDC) immediately started working on restoring the supply, adding that the task was achieved within a few hours of the power outage.

He said KE plants were not shut down and that of the 1,900 feeders in Karachi that were supplying power to residential and commercial consumers, power was restored to most of them by 11pm.

Rana said most of the feeders that were supplying power to industrial consumers were also energized by 4am, adding that the power supply situation in Karachi has returned to normal.

When asked why did the restoration of power was delayed by a few hours, Imran Rana said field teams faced difficulties due to the rain.

He said that KE cuts off power in areas where water accumulates or where illegal hooks supply power to residents, adding that this step is taken due to safety concerns. He said power is restored to these areas when the field teams are fairly confident that there are no more safety concerns left.

He added that the power utility company is on high alert due to the rain forecast and is trying to prevent further power outages in the city.