QUETTA: Residents and businesses across various parts of Quetta and its surrounding regions are set to experience planned power disruptions over the coming days. The Quetta Electric Supply Company (QESCO) has announced a series of scheduled power shutdowns to facilitate critical development projects, including line shifting and the installation of new poles.
According to a detailed schedule released by QESCO, the outages will be carried out in phases. The first interruption is scheduled for Sunday, November 9, when the Hali Road Feeder of the Mariabad Grid Station will be shut down from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM. Furthermore, on both November 8 and 9, several feeders from the Kuchlak Grid Station—specifically DHA-1, DHA-2, Bacha Agha, Sattar, and Aghberg—will have their supply suspended daily from 9:00 AM to 5:00 PM.
The power suspensions will continue into the start of the next week. On Monday, November 10, areas fed by the Malik Plant, PAF, and Shahbaz Town feeders of the Quetta City Grid Station, along with the Tooghi Road and City feeders of the Mariabad Grid Station, will be without electricity from 10:00 AM to 2:00 PM.
In a separate but concurrent development, a more extended outage is planned due to the ongoing expansion work on the National Highway from Sorab to Khadkocha. The power supply from the 132kV Mastung–Mangchar transmission line will be suspended from 9:00 AM on November 10 until 8:00 PM on November 11. This prolonged shutdown will impact the 132kV Khadkocha Grid Station; however, QESCO has assured that it will manage the electricity supply through an alternative load management plan to mitigate the impact on consumers. The utility company has advised citizens to plan their activities accordingly during these specified hours.
Meanwhile Quetta has been placed under tight security as the district administration blocked all major routes using trucks and containers ahead of a procession organized by Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) and Tehreek Tahafuz-e-Aain Pakistan at the Hockey Ground.
Mobile and internet services across the city have also been suspended.
PTI Balochistan’s provincial president, Dawood Shah Kakar, stated that the administration refused to issue a No Objection Certificate (NOC) for the rally.
