KARACHI, June 25: Although nature showed some mercy to the Karachiites as the mercury dropped a little, the KESC continued to torment its consumers with its loadshedding and power breakdowns on Sunday, though it was holiday and most of the markets were closed.
According to the Met office, the maximum temperature on Sunday was 38.2 degrees Celsius, about 3.4 degrees less than Saturday’s 41.6 degrees Celsius, but humidity was higher at 57 per cent.
People rang up Dawn’s office to vent their anger. One of the callers remarked that previously friends used to ask one another that when did the power go off, but now they asked when the power came and for how long it remained on.
They said that earlier the KESC was a public sector company hence red-tapism and delay in decision-making and expansion plans etc could be understood, but with the private company running KESC affairs, some planning should have been done earlier so that the people did not suffer in the sizzling heat.
Callers asked why the utility was not announcing the schedule for loadshedding so that they could schedule their work accordingly. They also pointed out that when the power supply was on, the voltage fluctuated and many a time the voltage was so low that even the tubelights could not be turned on.
Dr Noor Afroze, calling from Gulistan-i-Jauher, said her area had been without power supply from 7am to 9am and 2pm to 8pm, while the power supply remained disrupted three to four time for about 15 to 20 minutes each during the night also.
Power supply to her relatives living in Block 13 B, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, had remained suspended from 3pm to 8pm. She said her patients were also suffering owing to disruptions in power supply.
A resident of Block 16, Gulistan-i-Jauher, Shaharyar Raza said his area was without power supply from 1am to 3am and then again from 4pm to 6pm. Sadaqat Hussain from Block 14, Gulshan-i-Iqbal said his area was without power supply from 2pm to 3pm, and the supply was disrupted three to four times during the morning for around 10 to 15 minutes each.
Calling late in the night from Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Block 16, Faisal said there had been no power supply in his locality for the previous 20 hours.
Lala Rafique from Korangi Crossing said that his area was without electricity from noon till 7.45pm. Qadir Baloch from Ibrahim Haidery said his area and the neighbouring Rehri Goth, had been without power supply from 1pm to 6pm.
A caller from Block 3 of Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Azra Khalid, said her area had been without power supply from 3pm to 6pm and the previous night from 9pm to 11pm. A resident of Sector 8, North Karachi Tahreem Riaz said her area had been without power supply from 8pm to midnight (Saturday) and from 4am to 6am and again from 11 am to 4pm.
A student, Abdul Hanif, from Zamanabad, Korangi, said his area had been without power supply from 11am to 3pm. Fazle Mubin from Block 4, Nazimabad, said his area remained without power supply for over an hour for four to five times daily.
Shujauddin, a heart patient, from Block L, North Nazimabad, said that his area had been without power supply from 2.30pm to 8pm. A resident of Karimabad, Block 4, Federal B Area, Mohammad Rizwan said his area had been without power supply from 1am to 5pm and then from 11am to 2pm.
