KARACHI, Nov 8: Citizens braved another day of power failures on Wednesday as KESC resorted to unannounced power loadshedding after a shortfall of up to 200 MW in power generation.

Besides, the power utility carried out an unannounced shutdown for more than five hours in Federal B Area for maintenance and system improvement.

People in Federal B Area said the power went off at 10:40am and was restored by 4pm. They said the prolonged shutdown perturbed residents of the area and the local complaint centres did not give a satisfactory reply.

However, officials in the centralized complaint centre claimed that the KESC had announced shutdowns for maintenance. Contrary to their claims, no announcement appeared in the media to inform residents of Federal B Area about the prolonged shutdown.

Syed Mehdi Hasan from Block-13 in Federal B Area said power supply to his locality remained suspended during daytime and it again went off in the evening. The most vulnerable were electrical appliances that could not withstand with frequent power failures and fluctuations, he said, adding the KESC did not feel pain of the residents who suffered losses.

Residents of Blocks 12 and 17 said a prolonged power shutdown was carried out in their respective localities on the pretext of maintenance. They said the KESC had been resorting to power loadshedding in the relatively cool month of November while it had earlier claimed that the demand would decrease as soon as the weather turns pleasant.

They said the KESC had been trying to cover up its weaknesses by announcing breakdowns as shutdowns.

A resident in Gulistan-i-Jauhar (Block16-A) said that power supply went off for an hour in the evening. She said that power cuts have become a routine in their locality.

It seems that the KESC would continue to resort to loadshedding during winter season as it had failed to overcome its weaknesses”, she added.

A KESC spokesman said the power demand increased as weather changed. The power demand was up to 2,200 MW while the power generation was around 2,000 MW. The KESC resorted to loadshedding for 30 to 75 minutes on a rotation basis across the city to meet the shortfall in power generation, he added.