KARACHI, March 12: The transmission and distribution system of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation failed in many areas of the city as mercury rose to 34 degrees Centigrade on Wednesday.

Sources working in the centralized complaint centre of the KESC, better known as 118, told Dawn that they had received complaints of power failures from Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Kharadar, New Karachi, Clifton, Soldier Bazaar, Defence and Federal B. Area.

They added that at a briefing they had recently been told that fewer power breakdowns would occur this summer, for the power utility had worked a lot, and spent a considerable amount of money on the overhaul of the system. They complained that they had to bear the brunt of consumer anger who wondered what would happen to the KESC system in summer when it could not withstand such a small rise in temperature at the fag end of spring.

A resident of Federal B. Area, Block 19, told Dawn there had been a lot of fluctuation of power in his locality. He said his friend, living in Block 12, had had such an abrupt power shutdown that the monitor of his computer set had broken down.

A resident of an apartment in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Block 17, said that he had been without electricity since the Asr prayers.

Calling from Soldier Bazaar, a resident said that KESC electricity was so unreliable that most people organizing Majalis procured a power generator in case they had a power breakdown.

A resident of Kharadar said she had been unwell for quite some time and needed a certain medical equipment which could not be used without electricity. “My therapy has to be done on time and I cannot rely on power supply from the KESC. As a result, I had to buy a generator though I am spending a lot of money on medication,” she observed.

A KESC official said that the reason why power breakdowns occurred so frequently was that localities had not evolved the way they had been planned.

“When these areas were being planned out, and their maps existed only on paper, we had been given to understand that they would be residential areas with a commercial centre, such as a shopping plaza, hard by. We laid our infrastructure accordingly. Much to our consternation, these areas underwent a complete transformation and became commercial hubs of the city.”

The official added that in order to become well-equipped enough to meet the electricity requirements of these areas, the cash-strapped power utility would have to pump a great deal of money into the infrastructure.

“Even if by some miracle the money became available, the process of infrastructure upgrade would take a long time.”