NAWABSHAH: Another windstorm hit Nawabshah and Sanghar on Friday evening, within 24 hours after the earlier one had played havoc with civic infrastructure in many towns and villages of the two districts, as well as Dadu and Jamshoro districts.

Many cities, towns and villages were without power till late in the evening as high-velocity winds on Thursday had brought down seven towers and countless poles and high-tension lines in the four districts.

The affected population is also faced with water shortage as municipalities’ pumping stations and domestic pumps could not be operated in the absence of electricity.

Hyderabad Electric Supply Company Chief Executive Officer Roshan Otho acknowledged the massive breakdown and the trouble caused by it to consumers, and held out assurance that the supply would be restored as soon as possible. Hesco teams were at work day and night, he added.

The Friday windstorm was of lower intensity than Thursday’s though it also battered houses and other structures causing considerable damage to them.

Region remains without water and power for over 24 hours; Hesco says 70 feeders affected by storm

It was followed by thunder showers. Intermittent spells of rain continued into late night hours.

The cities and towns hit by the second windstorm included Nawabshah, Sanghar, Tando Adam, Shahpur Chakar, Sakrand and Qazi Ahmed. The bad weather conditions hampered efforts to bring the situation back to normal.

People of Nawabshah city, Sakrand, Daur and their adjoining towns and villages faced great hardship due to the massive power breakdown which hit the vast area as soon as the Thursday afternoon windstorm swept through four districts. Power supply remained suspended for more than 24 hours and could not be restored till the last report came in a little before midnight.

The windstorm had left a trail of destruction in many cities, towns and villages blowing away rooftops of countless thatched houses, hoardings and billboards, besides razing scores of electricity poles and uprooting a number of trees. Incidents of wall collapse at two places in Nawabshah had left three men dead while several other people suffered injuries in windstorm-related incidents on Thursday.

A large population of these towns was badly affected by the power outage as most households do not have alternative energy sources like generator, UPS or solar panel. Water shortage appeared to be the ultimate cause as pumping machines could not be operated.

Amid sizzling weather conditions persisting in the entire region for a couple of weeks, there has been a wide difference between demand and supply of ice and cold drinks. The power breakdown of over 24 hours led to closure of ice factories while refrigerators and deep freezers in homes and commercial outlets have stopped functioning.

Meanwhile, Hesco chief Roshan Otho shared details of the destruction and rehabilitation work with the media at the Nawabshah Press Club on Friday evening.

He said that as many as 70 feeders of seven grid stations were affected due to the falling of six towers carrying 132kV high-transmission line during the windstorm.

They included Tower No. 116 (Shahpur Chakar-Nawabshah), Tower No. 24 (Saeedabad-Sakrand), Tower Nos. 236 and 237 (Khanot-Jamshoro-Lakhra) and Tower Nos. 172 and 174.

He said that power supply to 40 11kV feeders of three grid stations in Nawabshah remained suspended since the Thursday afternoon windstorm whereas seven feeders of Daur grid, 15 feeders of Sakrand grid, five feeders of Saeedabad gird and three feeders of Khanot grid were also affected.

The Hesco chief said that technical teams were busy rehabilitating the towers to restore electricity supply.

He hoped that situation would normalise by 10 pm Friday.

Published in Dawn, June 8th, 2024