The three-member body headed by the joint secretary (administration) of the ministry of power in its report submitted yesterday said the incident took place due to a long indifference to the technical fault that developed gradually on the 132 kv transmission line.

However, the committee did not specifically hold anybody responsible for the incident.

The report was learnt to have irked the high officials of the power ministry, which is now waiting for report of the five- member technical committee formed after the incident.

The 230 KV bush insulator of the Ashuganj Power Plant was burnt and detached Wednesday morning when the aluminum conductor of the nearby 132kv line of the sub-station melted because of extreme heat and fell on 230 kv line. The incident caused power outages all over the country, bringing the generation to nearly half of 3,500 mw.

The government immediately formed two separate probe bodies to investigate the disruption in power supply that was restored after 24 hours of relentless efforts. The incident, worst in past several years, also hit generation from other

operative power plants excepting those in Mymensingh and Sylhet region.

Officials initially blamed the massive disruption on technical problems. The 700mw capacity Ashuganj Power Station has been turned into commercially run Ashuganj Power Company Ltd on June 1 this year.