Hardly a day had passed since the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) had imposed fine to the tune of Rs10 million on the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC), the latter again invited the wrath of the Authority on Wednesday when it was again fined Rs10 million for failing to restore the power supply in some parts of the country on time after some of the electricity towers were uprooted due to strong winds. According to the statement issued by the NEPRA, two towers of 500 KV of Dadu-Jamshoro transmission line and six towers of Port Qasim-Matyari line in Sindh had been uprooted due to strong winds in May 2022 following which 1,320 megawatts of electricity had exited from the system, which had resulted in a partial power breakdown in the country. The statement said that it took the NTDC 10 days to restore power supply in the areas where there was a blackout, prompting the NEPRA to initiate an inquiry into such an inordinate delay. “And it was after the inquiry was over that the Authority first issued a show-cause notice to the NTDC, and when the latter did not respond to the notice on time, the NEPRA slapped fine on it,” read the statement.

Credit: Independent News Pakistan-INP