KARACHI, April 30: The city saw no let-up in power breakdowns on Wednesday as mercury stood motionless at 37.5 degrees Centigrade.
Tuesday’s highest temperature was also 37.5 degrees Centigrade. But humidity — the amount of moisture in the air — increased on Wednesday to 40 per cent from 31 per cent on Tuesday.
The city areas that remained without electricity for a long time on Wednesday were Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Bhagdadi, Golimar, Rizvia Society, Federal B Area, Bahadurabad, North Nazimabad, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Clifton, Natha Khan Goth, Gulshan-i-Maymar and Kharadar.
Calling from North Nazimabad, Block J, one Sarwar Mustafa told Dawn that his locality experienced a power breakdown every day at around midnight.
“This has been going on for the past one month. When we call our regional complaint centre we are told that in the event of overloading, feeders are switched off. This excuse is completely unacceptable because every month we pay our utility bills. If our money cannot be utilized to upgrade the infrastructure that supplies electricity to us, what is it used for?”
He added that students were having their exams these days. ”This point has been highlighted in the press several times but it seems to have had no effect on the KESC. It is tormenting for students to study by candlelight.”
A consumer from Defence drew the attention of Dawn towards the recently released financial report of the KESC.
“The loss before taxation in the first nine months of the current fiscal year came to Rs9.8 billion. This shows bad management on the part of the KESC because the government has done its utmost to improve the financial health of the power utility. The financial charges of the KESC have come down to Rs1.5 billion from Rs6.4 billion which is primarily because of the incentives offered by the federal government to the KESC.”
Calling from Buffer Zone, 15-A-5, a consumer told Dawn that his locality too experienced a power breakdown every day at night.
“The KESC has decided to carry out loadshedding without announcing it. How is it possible for breakdowns to occur every day without fail. The KESC should be courteous enough to announce a loadshedding schedule because it would enable consumers to work out their day accordingly.”
Calling from PECHS, Block 6, a consumer said that his family had been without electricity since the previous night. “We registered a complaint with the KESC complaint centre but no action was taken by the power utility.”
Latif Mughal, calling from the same area, told Dawn that there had been a prolonged power breakdown in his locality the previous night.
A consumer from Federal B Area, Block 6, said that his locality had experienced a power breakdown the previous night at 12.45am.
“The power supply was restored at around 10 in the morning. Because the same feeder supplies electrical power to Block 10, the other block also had the nightlong power breakdown.”
