KARACHI, May 14: Power breakdowns continued to occur on Wednesday as the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation remained powerless to check power pilferage carried out in the name of religious festivities.
A couple of days back the KESC had announced that it would give temporary load connections to those who applied for electricity connections for Eid Milad-un-Nabi functions. However, it had not explained where the electricity for such connections — given at a higher cost — would come from. It had also left it unexplained how the KESC would ensure uninterrupted power supply to such functions when its transmission and distribution network is so fragile.
On Tuesday the power utility admitted that one of the circuits linking the KESC with the Water and Power Development Authority at Jamshoro needed immediate repairs and maintenance to avoid a major breakdown.
The same day, according to the KESC, Wapda shut down its circuit for overhauling owing to which the KESC could not avail maximum of 300 megawatts from one circuit. The KESC also claimed that the gas turbine at SITE and Korangi did not work due to low gas pressure, which resulted in another gap of 160 megawatts.
Sources in the KESC told Dawn that complaints of power breakdowns had been received from PECHS, Golimar, Nazimabad, North Karachi, Lyari, Malir Cantt, Sindhi Muslim Society, Kharadar, Shah Faisal Colony, North Nazimabad, Gulistan-i-Jauhar and Federal B Area.
An irate consumer called from Defence, Phase V, and said his locality had been without electricity for the past 52 hours. Introducing himself as Mohammad Aslam, he said: “I have tried to lodge complaints with my regional complaint centre several times, but quite often KESC officials misbehaved. My wife is a blood pressure patient. I am a heart patient. We are facing a water shortage because of such a prolonged power breakdown. Being old and unwell, we cannot get water from downstairs and carry it to the third storey we live on.”
A resident of Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Block 16, said his locality, as well as Block 17, had been without electricity for a couple of hours on Wednesday. He added he had called the centralized complaint centre, 118, to register his complaint but to no avail.
A caller from F.B. Area, Block 12, said frequent power shutdowns had forced them to stay awake the previous night.
