24 May 2004	Monday	04 Rabi-us-Saani 1425

KARACHI, May 23: Hundreds of power breakdowns occurred on Sunday in the city as mercury rose to 42 degrees Centigrade. Calling from many localities, Karachi Electric Supply Corporation consumers said they had been inconvenienced by unannounced load shedding and power breakdowns.

A resident of North Karachi said that the previous night his locality was without electricity from 10pm to 1am. "The KESC should announce a load shedding programme because it would enable its consumers to reschedule their routines accordingly," he said.

A resident of Korangi Crossing said that his locality had at least three power breakdowns from 2am to 2pm. "Power breakdowns at night cause a great deal of inconvenience. Besides, such frequent power breakdowns are also bad for home appliances," he observed.

A resident of Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Block 16, said that his one year old was greatly disturbed by the power breakdown earlier in the day. "He was taking a nap when we had a power breakdown.

He got up almost immediately. It was so hot that he started to cry badly. There was little that we could do except for fan him with a makeshift paper fan," he recalled.

A resident of Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Block 14, said that KESC officials at his complaint centre refused to register his complaint about the power breakdown, saying that they had not been informed of the power cut. "I had a long argument with them.

I asked them to tell me when our power supply would be restored. They said they were not sure because they had not been informed about the power breakdown by the operations department. Such lack of coordination between the various departments of the KESC causes a lot of problems to consumers," he said.

A resident of Buffer Zone recalled that a couple of years back the KESC used to announce a load shedding schedule. "This practice was very good, because we could figure out when we will lose our electricity and for how long. We would be most happy if this practice is restored," he said.

Sources in the centralized complaint centre of the KESC said that they had received complaints from Soldier Bazaar, Landhi, Baldia, Federal B Area, and North Nazimabad, adding that the KESC had carried out load shedding in those localities where the transformers were overloaded.