LAHORE: Heavy rain coupled with strong winds caused power outages in various areas of Lahore on Thursday. Newspapers reported that the fresh rainfall tripped at least 80 feeders in Lahore disrupting the electricity supply to parts of the city.
Why is it that whenever rain hits the city, the power goes on rest? The Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO), responsible for the power supply to the city, says that the power supply was restored soon after the stoppage of rain.
A LESCO electrical engineer says rain damages the insulation of high voltage lines as it reduces the insulation properties of porcelain bushings, switches, and the pin insulators that attach the lines to the poles.
According to Wikipedia, “insulators play an important role in keeping the flow of electricity moving and not shorting out on structures. Any crack or breakage of an insulator allows water, mostly in the form of rain to cause a failure.
This failure interrupts power by blowing a fuse, not unlike the ones found in our fuse panel in our homes”. As after the rain, as stuffy and oppressive atmosphere proceeds, demand for power supply goes up many times, and people face many problems due to electricity outage.
“This is a sort of cruelty that LESCO suspends the power supply when the public needs it the most,” said Honey Gull, a graduating girl. When there is no power, the life ends for tech savvy Ali Amjad, as the Internet service also breaks down.
He says he hates rains for he is always sure that rains will eat up first electricity and then Internet. Dr Usman said, “In power breakdown hours, mostly after the rains, it is very hard to survive for those people who do not have alternative power supply systems, called UPS.
Noshoba, a student of Mass Communication, said she faced many problems due to Internet breakdown after rain and her project was delayed due to this issue. “It’s government responsibility to sort out all these problems and take serious steps to minimize all problems,” she said.