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Army wants power restored at LoC

Staff Report

ISLAMABAD: The Army General Headquarters has asked the Ministry of Water and Power to restore power to several sensitive military installations, which collapsed in the earthquake, along the Line of Control (LoC) in Azad Jammu and Kashmir (AJK), a government official told Daily Times.

The Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) was providing electricity to AJK from the Muzaffarabad Grid Station through a single point electricity provision system, while AJK Electricity Board was responsible for power distribution in the area.

The official said that the Muzaffarabad Grid Station supplied electricity to all sensitive military installations and pickets, but the earthquake has completely destroyed the system. The official said that the Ministry of Defence has written to the Ministry of Water and Power on behalf of the GHQ for the immediate restoration of power to its border outposts.

The official said that it was very difficult to restore the transmission line from Muzaffarabad Grid Station to the Pakistan Army’s installations and pickets under the present circumstances. However, he said, thermal power generators of varying capacities from 50, 100, 150 to 200kW could be installed at the sites to restore limited power supply in the area.

The official said that the secretary of the Ministry of Water and Power has asked WAPDA to restore power to the Army’s installations along the LoC. However, the 50 to 200kW thermal generators could be installed to meet the immediate requirements of the region. The official said that WAPDA was assessing the damage to the transmission lines and distribution system in areas affected by the earthquake, however, the Mangla and Tarbela dams and the Ghazi Barotha Hydropower project are safe and have not suffered any structural damage. However, he said that on Saturday, a 500kW power transformer at Tarbela tripped because of the shocks, but WAPDA experts overcame the situation immediately.

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