KARACHI, July 26: Power breakdowns, coupled with sharp fluctuations in voltage supply, occurred in various phases of Defence Housing Society on Monday.

A large number of Defence residents called on Monday to complain against what is described by the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation as their 'model complaint centre'.

"We were told that the so-called model complaint centres swing into action as soon as they receive reports about power breakdowns. But I recently learnt to my cost that they are as slow in responding to complaints as complaint centres in other localities," said a resident of Khayaban-i-Bahria.

"Our phase has been in throes of an electricity crisis of late. But the staff at the complaint centre are so imaginative that every time we call them to lodge our complaint, they make up a new excuse. Sometimes a pole-mounted transformer collapses.

Other times electrical wires snap. It is however another thing that when we go to the spot, we find no broken wires there," he said. A resident of Khayaban-i-Mujahid told Dawn that a transformer started to give off sparks the previous night.