Iraq electricity ministry sets up operations center for Baghdad-Karbala pilgrimage plan

BAGHDAD, Iraq — Iraq's Ministry of Electricity has established a joint operations center to manage power supply between Baghdad and Karbala ahead of the Muharram observance period, when millions of pilgrims travel to the holy city. Selam Selman El-Azircavi, media relations director at the Baghdad Electricity Distribution General Company, said the plan is being carried out in coordination with relevant institutions. The company has completed lighting, maintenance and material preparations for distribution lines along pilgrimage routes, and has mobilized its own vehicles to support pilgrims' transportation to Karbala. Areas covered by the plan have been exempted from scheduled outages, and maintenance teams have been deployed along routes inside and outside Karbala for immediate response. The Ministry announced a large-scale operation against illegal connections to the national grid in Baghdad, which it said would reduce unplanned outages and increase the stability of energy supply. Preventive maintenance and emergency repair work aims to lower network losses. No further details were immediately available.