Protestors on Tuesday blocked the Makran Coastal Highway connecting Gwadar to Karachi as the region faces an electric power blackout due to faults with transmission lines. The protest took place near Ormara, according to DAWN. The coastal town is located almost halfway between Gwadar and Karachi.
The southwestern districts of Pakistan’s Balochistan province — Gwadar, Panjgur, and Turbat — are supplied electricity by Iran. According to sources with the Quetta-based electric power distribution company, these districts have been without electric power after the Iranian power supplier shut down supply “to save their own grid from a power overload” after “a technical fault in the transmission line.”
Mir Hasil Bizenjo, the president of the National Party, which had been part of the previous coalition government in Balochistan and at the center, called for a strike this Friday.
It does not appear that the electricity crisis in Gwadar will abate soon. DAWN reports that repairs to the transmission lines have been delayed because Iran will have to procure equipment and spare parts from Germany.
A 300MW coal power plant is planned for Gwadar, but has faced delays.
