THIS refers to the fire incident at Guddu thermal power plant, which resulted in damage to the steam turbine of the power plant unit II. The damage resulted in the loss of more than Rs15 billion to the national exchequer.
The 747MW relatively inexpensive electricity is now out of the system.
According to reports, the leakage in the roof during heavy rain led to a short circuit followed by fire at the site. Despite the monsoon alert, the roofs of the site were not shielded to bear heavy rain.
Coupled with the leakage in the roof, the fire extinguishing mechanism was out oforder andthatexacerbatedthe situation. The power plant had the potential to generate 747MW of cheap electricity by utilising local gas reserves through a pipeline from Kandhkot.In a country already hit by energy crisis, this loss seems to be irrecoverable. If the management had taken prompt steps to renovate the roof as soon as they had got the weather alert and had a functional fire extinguishing material on the ready, there would not have been such an extreme loss.
The relevant authorities should immediately hold an inquiry to find out and punish those responsible for this national loss.
