KARACHI, May 22: Power breakdowns occurred in many localities of the city on Sunday as staff at the KESC centres responded lazily to complaints. Calling from Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Block 14, a resident said his locality suffered prolonged power breakdowns on a daily basis. “In the current spell of blazing heat, we spend hours on end without electricity. Children have to study and those who work nine-to-five every day have to rest. But all these concerns seem to be lost on the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation,” he said.
A resident of PECHS, Block 2, said voltage in his locality remained almost always very low. “The voltage remains so low that our tube-lights do not turn on. The voltage is so low that the thermostat of our refrigerator keeps it off. We don’t switch on our TV. In effect, we experience a power breakdown. The voltage drops even further at night,” he complained.
Calling from an apartment on Abul Hassan Ispahani Road in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, a consumer said that they had been without electricity since the previous night. “We registered a complaint with the KESC complaint centre but no action was taken by the power utility. The foodstuff n our freezer was spoilt because of the prolonged power breakdown.”
A resident of Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Block 17, told Dawn that his locality faced a recurring fault: breakdown of one of the three phases. “One power phase keeps breaking down. We lodge our complaints with our complaint centres and with 118. The KESC vehicles do not show up during the day. One wonders why they come to our places at night -– perhaps because, frustrated, people are willing to pay bribes to get their electricity back.”
A resident, calling from Malir Cantt said that the centralized complaint centre, better known as 118, had not kept its consumers informed about the nature of power breakdowns. “I called 118 on Saturday at around 2pm. The telephone attendant told me that there was a cable fault in my area which was being repaired. When I went out I realized that only my house was facing a power breakdown. I had to find an electrician who repaired the fault and restored the power supply. I again phoned 118 and was told that the cable fault was being repaired!”
