The National Power Control Centre (NPCC) has suspended multiple officials following an operational mishap at a substation, reportedly caused by miscommunication and procedural lapses.
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Among those suspended is the Assistant General Manager (Operations), who maintains he bears no responsibility for the incident. According to his account, the error occurred during a shutdown on the 220 kV Bus Bar-II, scheduled by the Extra High Voltage (EHV) Department of the National Grid Corporation of Pakistan (NGCP). A permit-to-work (PTW) had been issued for April 17, 2025. However, after its cancellation, a back-closing operation was executed at around 18:45 hrs—nearly an hour ahead of the approved 20:00 hrs timeline.
This premature operation led to a permanent fault, allegedly triggered by a Substation Attendant (SSA), who later admitted negligence during the official inquiry.
The NPCC launched a formal investigation on April 18. Shift officials were suspended on April 22, and the Assistant General Manager (Operations) was issued a suspension order on May 9.
During the inquiry, statements were recorded from the Deputy Manager, Assistant Managers (Operations and Shift), Substation Operators I and II (SSO-I, II), and the SSA, who accepted responsibility in writing.
The Assistant General Manager (Operations), however, contends that the root cause lay with the Protection and Instrumentation (P&I) section. He claims the P&I team had taken a Special Protection Tag to test a flicker relay on April 17, but failed to document the activity in the message register—a mandatory protocol. This lapse, he argues, left the shift team unaware of the ongoing work, ultimately leading to the SSA’s error.
He further emphasized that he was neither on duty at the time of the incident (1800–2000 hrs) nor directly supervising the shift in question, which was overseen by an Assistant Engineer (Shift). The engineer, during the inquiry, admitted he had not communicated the situation to the Deputy or Assistant Manager (Operations).
The Assistant General Manager has since submitted formal representations requesting a review of his role and clarification regarding any alleged liability. He stressed that no follow-up inquiry has been initiated, nor has the original one been declared deficient.
Dismissing the allegations as baseless, he has urged senior officials to absolve him of blame, asserting that there is no legal or factual basis to hold him accountable.
