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• Suggested slug: hyderabad-hesco-crumbling-power-network-risk
• Category: Sindh
• Focus keyphrase: Hyderabad HESCO power infrastructure safety
• SEO title: Hyderabad’s Crumbling Power Network Puts Lives at Risk
• Meta description: A snapped 11,000-volt wire on Hyderabad’s Qazi Qayyum Road has renewed fears over HESCO’s ageing power infrastructure and poor maintenance.
• Tags: HESCO, Hyderabad, electricity, power infrastructure, Qazi Qayyum Road, public safety, Sindh
• Original element: local Pakistan angle — the piece connects the Qazi Qayyum Road incident to the pattern residents describe (fallen wires, exploding transformers, hot oil on roads) and what it means for public safety in Sindh’s second city
• Source: Tribune (“Hyd’s crumbling power network puts lives at risk”, published 17 Oct 2026)

Hyderabad’s Crumbling Power Network Puts Lives at Risk

An ageing 11,000-volt electricity wire snapped and crashed onto a busy road in Hyderabad, spewing sparks and flames for more than half an hour, in the latest incident to raise alarms over the safety of the city’s deteriorating power infrastructure.

The incident on Qazi Qayyum Road has renewed concerns that repeated maintenance failures by the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company are putting lives at risk. Residents allege that despite repeated complaints about ageing transformers and worn-out power lines, HESCO has failed to replace or adequately repair the dangerous equipment.

Panic on a busy thoroughfare

The latest incident occurred on Friday when a high-voltage wire fell beside a loader rickshaw parked near the footpath in the middle of Qazi Qayyum Road, one of Hyderabad’s busiest thoroughfares. Sparks flew and flames kept flaring as the live wire lay on the road, creating panic among residents and passers-by.

That the wire lay live for over half an hour points to a second failure beyond the snap itself: the protection systems that should trip a fallen high-voltage line did not act in time. In a crowded commercial area, thirty minutes of a live 11kV conductor on the ground is the difference between a scare and a casualty list.

A pattern residents know too well

Residents said incidents involving fallen wires, exploding transformers and hot oil spilling onto roads had become distressingly frequent in the city. The description matches a pattern seen across HESCO’s service area, where ageing distribution infrastructure, much of it installed decades ago, has not kept pace with load growth or maintenance needs.

Transformers that explode shower hot oil and metal fragments onto streets below. Low-hanging or sagging conductors come down in wind and rain. Each incident gets reported, residents say, and little changes.

The frustration is sharpened by the fact that consumers pay for maintenance through their bills. The monthly fuel and service charges on a Hyderabad electricity bill are supposed to fund exactly the kind of preventive work, pole replacement, conductor restringing, transformer servicing, that residents say is not happening.

What HESCO needs to answer

The company faces straightforward questions. When was the Qazi Qayyum Road feeder last inspected? Why did protection relays not isolate the fallen conductor immediately? And what is the replacement schedule for the ageing 11kV network in the city’s congested areas?

Distribution companies across Pakistan tend to treat maintenance as a cost to be deferred rather than a duty to be performed, until an incident forces their hand. The regulatory framework gives NEPRA the power to penalise poor safety performance, but enforcement against state-owned distributors has historically been weak.

For now, the people who walk and work under Hyderabad’s wires are left to watch the sky along with the road. A city of over a million deserves a power network that does not rain sparks on its busiest streets.

Frequently asked questions

What happened on Qazi Qayyum Road?

An ageing 11,000-volt wire snapped and fell onto the busy road on Friday, sparking and burning for more than half an hour beside a parked loader rickshaw.

Who is responsible for the infrastructure?

The Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO), the state-owned distributor for the region. Residents allege it has ignored repeated complaints about ageing transformers and power lines.

Why is this part of a bigger problem?

Residents say fallen wires, exploding transformers and hot oil spills have become frequent in Hyderabad, pointing to systemic maintenance failures in the city’s ageing distribution network.