Shehbaz Sharif, Pakistan's prime minister, apologised to the nation for the countrywide power outage. He vowed to fix the inconvenience that sank more than a million citizens of Pakistan into darkness. It was the second major power outage in four months, report agencies. On Monday, Pakistan witnessed a countrywide power outage due to variations in voltage in the national grid. The breakdown impacted daily life even in the most prime regions of the country, including the capital city of Pakistan, Islamabad, and the financial hub, Karachi.
Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif took to Twitter and said, "On behalf of my government, I would like to express my sincere regrets for the inconvenience our citizens suffered due to the power outage yesterday." He added, "On my order, an inquiry is underway to determine the reasons for the power failure."
Later on Tuesday, the power supply returned to several parts of Pakistan. However, some regions witnessed a blackout throughout the day. Khurram Dastgir, Minister for Energy, said they restored electricity at grid stations across the country. He tweeted, "Power at all 1,112 stations of the national grid has been restored."
After the nationwide power outage in Pakistan, the prime minister ordered a high-level probe to investigate the reason for the breakdown. The probe committee consists of three members. However, it is not the first time that Pakistan has faced such problems.
In October 2022, Pakistan went through a power outage that lasted for 12 hours. It was due to technical glitches in the electricity allocation system.
Pakistan's foreign exchange reserves are plunging as they undergo the worst economic crisis in the last few years. Earlier this month, the government shut down shopping malls and markets by 8:30 PM to conserve energy.
The miserable state of Pakistan's power sector is symbolic of its weak economy. Power outages have become more common due to the shortage of reserves to elevate ageing infrastructure.
© 2023 - All Rights with The Financial Express
