KARACHI, April 16: While the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation insists that it is not carrying out loadshedding in the city, consumers calling from many localities, other than those affected by a recent equipment failure in the 132KV Orangi circuit, point out that they experience power breakdowns every day.

Rumours of unannounced loadshedding were fuelled by a statement made by the KESC managing director, Brig Tariq Saddozai, at a press conference in which he had admitted that the power utility switched off supply to those areas where a large number of consumers indulged in power pilferage.

Calling from Shadman Town, Sector 14-B, Junaid Askari said that his locality faced a two-hour power breakdown every day, either in the morning and in the evening. “It is hard to believe that a power fault occurs in our locality every day for exactly two hours. If the power utility is carrying out load shedding in our locality, what is stopping it from announcing it,” he said.

Tufail Ahmed called from Gulshan-i-Iqbal and said that his locality also experienced power breakdowns every day.

Calling from Defence, Phase VI, a consumer, who did not want to be named, said he was horrified to read in the papers that at a meeting in Rawalpindi, President General Pervez Musharraf actually praised the administration of the KESC. “The president was quoted as saying that a couple of years ago the power utility was running losses amounting to millions of rupees. Now, he added, the administration of the KESC had made it so efficient that it could actually break even.”

The KESC consumer said that the army-run administration of the KESC did not present a complete picture to the president. ”The president has apparently not been informed that a large number of KESC consumers do without electricity every day. Consumer satisfaction does not rank high on the KESC’s list of priorities.”

Another resident from the same area said he was most indignant about power breakdowns in his locality. “The KESC administration has admitted that transmission and distribution losses in Defence have come down very significantly. It has also admitted that it generates a lot of revenue from this area. Nevertheless, the power utility has made no arrangements to ensure uninterrupted power supply to Defence.”

Sources told Dawn that on Wednesday power breakdowns had been reported from Shah Faisal Colony, Malir, PECHS, Block 6 and 2, North Nazimabad, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Orangi Town and North Karachi.