KOHAT: A huge fire at the main 132KV Rawalpindi Road grid station on Saturday evening plunged the whole of Kohat district into darkness with a Pesco official saying that restoration of electricity supply would take three days, that too in phases, as the blaze had caused immense damage to the grid.

The fire suspended power supply to Jarma, Tappi, Sorgul, College Town, Bilitang, Kharmatou, Dhodha, Cadet College Kohat, Togh Bala, Alizai, Nasrat Khel, Muhammadzai, OTS Road, Sheikhan, Shahpur, Dheri Banda, Mir Bash Khel, Merozai, Gulabad, Ashiq Colony Chakarkot, Garhi Risaldar and Canal Road.

There were no casualties reported due to the blaze.

A Pesco official, Daud Khan, told Dawn that the fire was caused by an extremely overloaded system.

However, sources in Pesco confided that the transformers were protected by HV circuit-breakers, therefore, the fire erupted in HV room and not in the grid station. There were no fire alarms, fire extinguishers, optical smoke detectors and fire-rated doors in the 11KV HV room, they disclosed.

They said an inquiry should be ordered as to confirm that fire was caused either by loose connections or poor maintenance. They said fire in the HV room damaged the feeders.

Pesco official says it will take three days to restore power

Pesco official Daud Khan said the lawmakers had been requested time and again to provide additional feeders, but to no avail.

He said engineering teams from Peshawar and Sheikh Muhammadi grid station, which supplied electricity to Kohat, would try to restore power from some alternative routes.

He said a huge blaze several years ago had also destroyed the grid due to the same problem of overload, and requests had been made at that time to install more feeders and renovate the supply lines, but to no avail.

WATER SHORTAGE: Four tribes of Jannat Khel area have accused the Maliks of not taking up the issues of water shortage and power loadshedding with the authorities concerned.

Talking to reporters on Sunday, community members from Pir Khel, Mansoor Khel, Jungle Khel and Ghamkol Afghan refugee camp also accused the Water Supply and Sanitation Company Kohat of not cleaning the landfills for four years, which spread diseases and made breathing difficult due to stinking smell.

They said despite repeated appeals their problems were not being resolved.

Meanwhile, the Bangash tribe of Banda Fateh Khel has decided not to vote for state minister Sheharyar Afridi in the coming elections as he had failed to carry out a single development project in the area during last seven years.

Talking to reporters, former village nazim Itebar Khan, Shakir Bangash, Omer Farooq and others alleged that development funds were being distributed among the blue-eyed people. They said the area lacked a water supply scheme and was subjected to frequent power loadshedding. They said streets were unpaved.

TRAINING: The KDA Teaching Hospital has signed an agreement with private hospitals to provide clinical training to the paramedical and nursing staff.

Hospital’s medical superintendent Dr Raheem Khattak signed the agreement with private hospitals.

The training would be provided on the basis of public-private partnership.

Published in Dawn, July 13th, 2020