Fog, power outages hit south Punjab cities

Three dead in accident

LAHORE: Early morning dense accounted for three lives on Saturday through road accidents after visibility dropped virtually to zero in planer areas of the province.

Three people lost their lives in Lodhran in an accident between a Mazda Carrier and a Truck. The temperature also dropped significantly in addition to the dense fog which resulted in severe complication for those travelling to work and educational institutes early in the morning. 

Mailsi, Yazman, Vahwa, Mitthun Kot, Karor Laal Eesan, Jahaniyan, and Matru in addition to a number of other parts of South Punjab were without electricity for ten to 12 hours on average. 

The Faisalabad-Pindi Bhattiyan section of the Motorway M3,  Gojra section of M4 and Peshawar-Islamabad Burhan Interchange was shut down due to fog as well. The air traffic schedule was also disrupted due to the fog especially at the Multan Airport. PK 740 from Dubai to Multan had to be diverted to Karachi due to fog. The drastic drop in visibility below 5 miters forced a short suspension of air traffic at the Lahore Airport as well while the flight operations at Multan airport could not resume till around 9-10 am. Rail traffic too had to move at a cautious pace which gave way to a cyclical delay in the trains.

The fragile power distribution system of Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO) could not sustain the foggy weather as several grid stations tripped, severing electricity supply to large parts of the power utility. Electricity supply could not be restored for several hours. 

Meteorological department has predicted that the spell of dense fog will continue especially at dusk and early morning.  

Our Bahawalpur Correspondent adds: Dense fog and chilly conditions enveloped entire Bahawalpur region on Saturday. Bahawalpur, Bahawalnagar and Rahimyar Khan Districts are facing foggy conditions and are without power supply for 12 hours. Traffic on roads even on National Highway was thin.