KARACHI: People take to streets as power cuts continue
By Bhagwandas
KARACHI, June 27: Residents in almost all the localities of the city braved another day of electricity disruptions and breakdowns on Tuesday amid soaring temperatures. As the KESC spokesman customarily attributed the crisis to the shortage of power and breakdown of a high-tension wire, the leaders of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement and the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal warned the federal government of law and order situation if the KESC failed to resolve the problem on priority basis.
The warning by the MQM and the MMA leaders came after consumers in various localities took to the streets on Monday night protesting against night-long power disruptions. Enraged people in protest against the power utility lit bonfires on roads disrupting vehicular traffic in different parts of the metropolis and ransacked KESC office in Gulistan-i-Jauhar.
According to residents, power supply remained suspended for hours in Federal B` Area, North Nazimabad, Liaqautabad, Gulsitan-i-Jauhar, Bahadurabad, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Tariq Road, Gulbahar, Lines Area, Akhtar Colony, Mehmoodabad, Landhi, Shershah, Queens Road, Patel Para, Lasbella Chowk, North Karachi and Nazimabad Chowrangi.
At some places, enraged people even attacked the KESC staff over slow pace of repair work and the staff had to run for their lives further delaying the repair work. Protesters also blocked the main University Road and pelted the passing vehicles with stones.
In Gulbahar area, around 200 to 300 people came out on Nawab Siddiqi Ali Khan Road and started pelting the passing vehicles with stones, blocking the main thoroughfare for several hours. They were later dispersed when police intervened. Bonfires were lit on S.M. Taufiq Road in Liaquatabad disrupting the smooth flow of vehicular traffic. Reports of violent protests were also received from Lasbella Chowk and Gulistan-i-Jauhar.
Calling from University Road, an angry resident told Dawn that the KESC claimed that it was facing power shortage while the giant billboards remained illuminated when area people were spending sleepless nights due to power failures.
A resident of Gulshan-i-Farooq, Sector 7/D-2, North Karcahi, Mohsin Ali, said that the KESC had been playing hide-and-seek for the last three days. There was an hour-long electricity breakdown at about 3:40am. The power again went off from 9am to 10.45am and then from 11.30am to 1pm.
Many callers said that if the KESC had announced the schedule of loadshedding, they could have planned accordingly. They also criticised the KESC top management, led by a German, and asked if a power utility in Germany could carry out the same treatment to its consumers. Some of the callers also said that the consumers were probably being tortured so that they could buy generators and UPS.
Calling from Block-4/A, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Sulaiman Khan said that power to his area had been supplied for only around three hours in the past 17 hours. It went off at 7am and came at around 11am, he said. Afterwards, he said, it came only for around 15 to 20 minutes followed by an hour-long closure.
Umair Hassan, a resident of North Karachi’s Sector-8, said that his area was without power supply from 4am to 6am and then again from 6pm to 10pm.
In Nazimabad No 4, the area was without electricity from 2am to 4am last night and then for the rest of Tuesday power supply was disrupted for five to six times for one hour each, Nasira Mubin complained.
Calling from Tauheed Commercial Area, Naveed Naik said that his area remained without power supply for between one and two hours for three to four times daily. It went off from midnight to 2am and then from 4am to 6am.
A resident of Bahadurabad, Ahmer Bilal, said that his locality experienced power outages thrice on Tuesday. Initially, the power went off at around 5am. It was restored at 8am for two hours only. He said that power failures continued from 3pm to 6pm.
A complainant from Block-2 of the PECHS, Saira Siddiqui, said that her area had been without power supply from 10.30am to 11.30am, from 1.30pm to 2.30pm, from 3pm to 5pm.
Calling from North Naziamabad’s Block-A, Aijaz Raza, said that his area was without power supply from 2am to 7am and then from 10.30am to 2pm.
Javed Masih from Essa Nagri said that his area was without power supply from 3pm to 4pm. Besides, there was no power from 6pm to 9pm, while the power supply to the area was restored only for around a couple of hours on Monday night.
Shamim Bano of Gulistan-i-Jauher said that her area was without power supply from 1am to 2pm and then from 3pm to 6pm.
A resident of Safoora Goth, Mohammad Rafiq, said that his area was without power supply from 10am to 2pm and then from 3pm to 7pm.
A resident of Gulberg, Federal B` Area, Abdul Hadi, said that his area was without power supply from 11.30am to 1pm and again from 1.15pm to 5pm. Similar complaints were received from Block-13/B of FB Area.
A resident of Block-16/A, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Syeda Masooma, said that there was no electricity in her area from 1am to 2am, 3am to 5am, 8am to 10am and noon to 6pm.
Farkhanda Rehman from Block-17 of Gulistan-i-Jauhar said that her area was experiencing power shutdowns from five to seven hours daily. People could not sleep in the hot weather without electricity supply, she said. The situation was similar in the nearby blocks of 14, 15, and 16, 18 of the Gulistan-i-Jauher, she added. Mrs Humayoon from Hill Park said that her area had been without power supply from 7.30am to 10pm.
A complainant from Buffer Zone, Sector-15/A, North Karachi, Rashid Javed, said that the whole locality was without power supply from midnight to dawn.
Responding to the Dawn queries, KESC spokesperson said that there was a shortage of around 100MWs between 7pm and 8.30pm on Monday night and resultantly loadshedding was carried out. Besides, he said that a 132KV high-tension wire was damaged at Quaidabad on Monday. A transformer in FB` Area was burnt which also affected the power supply to North Naziamabd, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Buffer Zone, Nazimabad. Liaquatabad, Valika and Surjani.
