KARACHI, June 29: Thousands of Karachi Electric Supply Corporation consumers spent a sleepless night as the transmission and distribution system of the power utility broke down in many localities, for which the KESC blamed fog.

A KESC spokesman conceded that many trippings occurred the previous night, depriving a large number of consumers of electricity. The areas which experienced intermittent power breakdowns the previous night included North Karachi, Federal B Area, North Nazimabad, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, PECHS, Sindhi Muslim Society and Defence.

Calling from Federal B Area, Block 12, a resident said he couldn't get proper sleep the previous night as the locality experienced a night-long power breakdown. "Our regional complaint centre is quite close to our place. So I drove to the centre and found a large number of complainants assembled in front of the building.

They had lodged complaints and were informed by the KESC staff that power supply would not be restored before morning. Dejected, I returned home and tossed and turned in bed the whole night," he said.

A resident of Federal B Area, Block 7, said his locality had been without electricity the previous night. He added that another power breakdown occurred on Tuesday afternoon, inconveniencing those who were trying to catch up on their sleep.

A resident of Federal B Area, Block 20, said that of late power breakdowns had been occurring in his locality with irritating regularity. He added that these breakdowns were in addition to those power shutdowns which were carried out by the KESC whenever there was a shortage of electricity.

A resident of Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Block 13-D, said his locality also experienced a few power breakdowns the previous night. Calling from Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Block 16, a resident said that his locality had experienced a prolonged power breakdown on Tuesday afternoon.

He added that unhappy with regular power breakdowns in his locality, he had purchased a UPS (Uninterrupted Power Supply). A resident of Buffer Zone, 15-A-1, said that his locality had experienced a power breakdown the previous night.

Meanwhile, the KESC spokesman said that a meeting chaired by the managing director decided on Tuesday that senior engineers would inspect the power lines from the Bin Qasim plant so as to find out the spots, which were vulnerable to breakdown because of foggy conditions.

"Fog can cause power trippings. What happens is that fog breaks down the insulators, resulting in short circuits. As a result, more current flows through the network and causes feeders and transformers to trip," he explained. He added that the weak spots recognized tonight would be strengthened afterwards.

He said that the Jamshoro grid near the KDA station would also be checked, because it provided electricity to localities like North Karachi, Federal B Area, North Nazimabad, Gulshan-i-Iqbal and Gulistan-i-Jauhar.