KARACHI, May 2: Citizens on Tuesday criticized the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation for carrying out unannounced load-shedding in their respective localities amid hot and humid weather while the power utility denied having carried out any load shedding.
People living in the Defence Housing Authority, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Lyari, North Karachi, Korangi, Liaquatabad, and other localities complained of intermittent power breakdowns in their areas.
An irate resident from Block-13/D-III, Gulshan-i-Iqbal , said: "Power is playing hide-and-seek and we have become fed up with it. The supply comes and goes and there is no schedule for power load shedding." He said it was affecting water pumps and creating shortage of water. Electrical appliances were prone to damage during fluctuations, he said.
Another angry consumer from Sector 11-H, North Karachi said power supply remained off between 8:30am and 10.45am, and again from 3pm to 5:15pm. Power remained disconnected for more than two hours twice a day and it happened almost every day despite the fact that there was no load shedding announcement by the power utility.
Mrs Khalid from Defence Phase VI said that power supply in her locality was suspended for at least three hours in the first half of the day and it was again stopped for more than two hours in the evening. She said that children were preparing for examinations and their studies were badly disturbed by the prolonged absence of power. She asked the authorities if there any solution to the lingering problem of power breakdowns.
Another consumer Adeel Hasan from Phase IV in Defence said that the power load shedding was carried out for three hours in his locality and it had become a routine feature.
A resident from Bhitai Colony in Korangi said power went off twice in his locality for half an hour each time during the day and there was no light since 8pm till late in the night. Power failures in this area had been the order of the day, he said.A consumer from Block-20 in Federal B Area said that power was there but voltage remained unstable posing threat to electrical appliances. He said that his locality had been facing severe fluctuations in power supply for the past one week.
However, a spokesman for the KESC said that the power utility had met the demand ranging between 2,000 and 2,100 megawatts on Tuesday and there was no shortage in power generation. He said the KESC did not resort to power load shedding in any of the locality.
About complaints of power breakdowns, he said that power supply in certain areas was suspended owing to localised faults, which were rectified and supply was restored.
The worn-out transmission and distribution system of the power utility developed faults and the KESC is not in a position to rectify all the faults simultaneously causing prolong power breakdowns in various localities. According to the KESC's claim, the power demand, which was ranging between 2,000 and 2,100 megawatts in the recent past in summer season, might jump between 2,300 and 2,400 megawatts in the approaching summer season.
Sources in the power utility said that in case of increase in the demand the KESC was not in a position to meet the demand as the weak transmission and distribution system could not bear the full load of supplying power. The KESC would be forced to resort to power load shedding as the system might cease to work if the system was provided with maximum load.
KARACHI, May 2: Citizens on Tuesday criticized the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation for carrying out unannounced load-shedding in their respective localities amid hot and humid weather while the power utility denied having carried out any load shedding.
