Major power breakdown hits parts of Punjab

ISLAMABAD (92 News) – A Major power breakdown on Sunday left several areas of Punjab including Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan without electricity and brought much of normal life to a standstill due to technical fault in Mangla Power Station. The major outage forced shops, hospitals and businesses to turn to back-up generators as the lights went out The power breakdown left more than 80 percent of the provincial capital in darkness, while Jhung, Shorkot and adjoining areas remained without power for several hours. Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) officials said that the electricity has been restored in the 40 percent areas. Earlier, Ministry of Water and Power said that power shortage has been witnessed due to non-operation of four IPPs of 1230 MW and situation will improve in the next few days. The spokesman of the Ministry said that increased power load shedding may continue for the next few days due to hot weather conditions and increased demand. He also urged consumers to restrict their consumption to avoid the forced load shedding.