Pakistan: Lahore, Karachi without electricity; power expected to be back in 12 hrs

Islamabad: A major power breakdown hit Pakistan leaving major cities without electricity due to a fault in transmission lines.

"There are reports of multiple outages from different parts of the city. We are investigating the issue and will keep this space posted," said Imran Rana, Spokesperson, K-Electric in a Twitter post.

Confirming the development, Pakistan's Geo News reported that several areas in Karachi and Lahore were without electricity.

"#BREAKING: Countrywide power break down since 7:30am in #Pakistan," Pakistan journalist Asad Ali Toor tweeted.

The two transmission lines from Guddu to Quetta tripped, according to Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO). The company added that 22 districts of Balochistan, including Quetta, are without power, Geo News reported.

The outage was reported in all major cities, including Lahore, Karachi, Peshawar, and Islamabad. In Islamabad, almost 117 grid stations have no electricity.

Geo citing Minister Khurram Dastgir Khan, said it might take nearly 12 hours to restore power. The Geo TV channel also said that a frequency variation in the southern part of the country between the cities of Jamshoro and Dadu could be the cause of power failure.

Pakistan announced new energy conservation plan due to fragile economy

The outage comes at a time when the country's fragile economy is struggling with challenges like a severe energy crisis. Earlier this month, Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif ordered all federal departments to reduce their energy consumption by 30 percent. He has also ordered the markets to close by 8:30 pm and restaurants by 10 pm.

The reduction in use of energy was majorly due to the alarmingly low levels of the foreign exchange reserves. In December last year, the country's total liquid foreign exchange reserves were at $11.7 billion, nearly half the amount it had at the beginning of the year, according to the central bank.

This is the more widespread power shutdown since 2021, when Pakistan was in darkenss for hours due to a plunge in the frequency in the power transmission system.

Earlier in October last year, Pakistan experienced a major power breakdown that deprived large swathes of the country, including provincial capitals Karachi and Lahore, of electricity, for more than 12 hours.