KARACHI, May 19: Political parties in the country have poured scorn on the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation for keeping the transmission and distribution system so ill-maintained that almost half the city remained without electricity on Sunday.

They demanded that the KESC officials responsible for the prolonged power breakdown on Sunday be taken to task without further delay.

Expressing concern over the power supply situation in the city, the chief of the Jamaat-i-Islami, Karachi, Mairajul Huda, said that the protests of the people against prolonged power breakdowns in their localities could have serious fallout. “The provincial government and the Sindh governor should take immediate notice of the situation. The water board and the KESC are both accountable to the provincial government, which should ensure that the power and water woes of the people of Sindh come to an end.”

Mr Huda said that instead of crossing swords with the city government, which had been serving the people of Karachi, the government should devolve such public utilities to the city government.

“The prolonged interruption in the supply of water and electricity to people in this sweltering heat has made their lives miserable. Women, children and the elderly face great anguish at home in the absence of electricity and water.”

The information secretary of the Pakistan People’s Party, Taj Haider, termed the statement of the KESC spokesman, in which he had said that a shutdown had been announced, as a crude joke. “Why does it take so long for the KESC to rectify such inconsequential faults? The power utility decided to shut down two-thirds of the city transmission and distribution system at one time. The shutdown coincided with a holiday on Sunday when power demand is not as high as it is on weekdays.”

Mr Haider said that another injustice to power consumers was that power tariff was being raised in the country on the plea that oil prices were rising. He wondered why the power tariff was still dependent on oil prices despite the fact that most power generators had been converted to natural gas from furnace oil.

The Sindh assembly member belonging to the Muttahida Qaumi Movement, Farida Baloch, called on the water board chief engineer, Khalid Malik, and informed him about a water crisis in different localities of Lyari. She told him that the residents of Baghdadi, Lyari General Hospital, Ali Mohammad Mohalla and Jutland Line were very upset about the ongoing water crisis.

The central vice president of the Pakistan Muslim League, Ejaz Shafi, said the water and power crisis was created by the rulers of the country. “The government is responsible for the power crisis and scarcity of water in the city. It is doing this to divert public attention from the debate over the Legal Framework Order. The people of the country should be excused for asking what is the use of ten billion dollars in the foreign exchange kitty when their necessities are not being met by the government.”

The Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal urged the government to make the city Nazim, Naimatullah Khan, the chairman of the KESC and town Nazims committee members.

The chief of the Sunni Tehrik, Mohammad Abbas Qadri, said that it was extremely unfair of the government to deprive the city which generated most revenue of power and water.