KARACHI: People criticize KESC’s working: Power failures
By Our Staff Reporter
KARACHI, Sept 29: People have criticized the poor performance of the military-run Karachi Electric Supply Corporation and have asked army officers to quit the utility service to pave the way for its privatization.
The citizens were of the view that line losses still stood at 40 per cent, and complaints of power failures, kunda system, poor transmission and distribution system could not be controlled despite the army being assigned the task to improve the situation.
They said that army officers could not produce results with the existing fleet of incompetent officials of the utility service and it should be privatized immediately.
Residents of blocks 8 and 9 of Clifton said power failure in their areas was a daily routine. They didn’t know if it was load-shedding or repair work, but power failed surely for one hour daily.
A resident of Erum Palace, Block 13/A, Gulshan-i-Iqbal said power failures continued unabated.
“It is a routine that power breakdowns occur two hours in the morning, usually from 9am to 11am, then from 2pm to 4pm; and then two hours in the evening from 8pm to 10pm. Power supply is sometimes discontinued at midnight for a couple of hours as well. Thus, there are no fixed hours of power failures,” he added.
A consumer from Tauheed Commercial area, DHA Phase V Extension said power went for two hours in the afternoon.
In Gulberg, Block 12, Federal B Area, a consumer said the area remained out of power on Thursday afternoon for three to four hours while the KESC played havoc with consumers by shutting power in the evening by four hours on Wednesday.
A consumer from Block 17, F.B. Area said power supply was shut at 2pm and restored at around 5.30pm.
Power failures had become order of the day and no one in the army managed the KESC to tell users as to why frequent power breakdowns occurred, he said, adding that people had expected the army to improve the KESC’s situation but the situation was deteriorating instead.
In the prevailing situation, army officers should quit the KESC to save themselves from defamation and allow the utility to be privatized as soon as possible.
Dr Khalid Imran of Korangi Association of Trade and Industry, who lives in Alfalah Socieity, Shah Faisal, said power breakdown of three to four hours had become a regular feature for the past two to three weeks.
He said power mainly went in the evening and night. “The load-shedding is unannounced and the KESC people give various reasons like cable fault, line trip, etc for it.”
The residents of Block-H, North Nazimabad, said power failure of least four to six hours daily was a routine and the KESC had done nothing to improve the situation.
They said several complaints were lodged with the complaint centres but no satisfactory reply was received from the military-run utility service.
