03 October 2004	Sunday	17 Shaban 1425

KARACHI, Oct 2: The transmission and distribution system of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation not only collapsed on Saturday following rains but also killed at least four people, including a child.

Irate residents, calling from many localities of Karachi, told Dawn that power breakdowns had lasted more than 10 hours. They said their complaint centres had told them that power supply to their localities had been switched off deliberately to avoid occurrence of massive breakdowns.

They said all tall claims of the army about the proper maintenance of transmission and distribution system turned out to be false, as network collapsed with the first drop of rain.

Police said Arshad Nazeer, 25, a resident of Pathan Colony, was standing in front of a factory in SITE, waiting for a bus. Suddenly, an electricity wire snapped over him and he was trapped. He suffered fatal electric shock and died on the spot.

The body was shifted to a hospital for autopsy and handed to his family subsequently.

In another incident, a 10-year-old girl and her mother died when an electricity wire snapped over them at their doorstep in Khamiso Goth.

Police and residents said that the girl Gulnaz, daughter of Ameer Khan, was standing at her doorstep in New Karachi Industrial Area police limits when a wire snapped and the girl received the electricity shock. Her mother Khayano Bano, 35, tried to rescue her daughter and she was also glued. Both mother and daughter died on the spot.

Salman, 12, was playing in a ground near his home in Moosalane, Baghdadi, during rain. He walked into the water standing on the road, where a snapped wire of electric was also lying. The boy received a severe electric shock and died on the spot.

Calling from Faran Society near Rangoonwala Hall, Abdul Salam Shaikh said his locality had been without electricity for the past 10 hours.

"Our complaint centres have two phones - 4533577 and 4521102 - but they have not been attended by any KESC official since last night. I had the contact number of the KESC engineer at the complaint centre - 4539019 - who told me that they had not been provided any information about the power breakdown by the operations department. The telephone numbers of the operations department - 4557371 and 4556716 - have been engaged since last night," he recalled.

A resident of North Nazimabad, Block H, told Dawn that his locality had been without electricity since 4.30am. "Our complaint centre first told me that power supply would be resumed by 2pm. Now they have changed their statement and are saying that electricity would be restored by 10pm. They did not tell us why the transmission and distribution system of the KESC is so fragile that it fails to withstand rains," he said.

A resident of Federal B Area told Dawn that his locality experienced a power breakdown in the early hours of Saturday. He said that his area had experienced a power breakdown for more than 10 hours.

"The authorities talk about privatizing the KESC. If the KESC transmission and distribution is so ill-maintained, who would buy it?" he wondered.

A resident of Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Block 16, told Dawn that his locality had been without electricity for more than 12 hours.

"I purchased a UPS some time back because I was fed up of power breakdowns. But the UPS will stop working in an hour or two and the complaint centre says power supply would be restored after five hours," he said.

However, a KESC spokesman said that no major breakdown had occurred. "Some distribution faults occurred which are beingrepaired. The distribution faults occurred in Model Colony, Malir, Nazimabad, Federal B Area, Defence, Clifton and Gulistan-i-Jauhar," he explained. Reports of power cuts were also received from Landhi Zamanabad Sector 36-B, North Karachi andSaudia Colony, Malir.