KARACHI, June 2: About half of the city was subjected to power outages after every two hours on Saturday as the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation failed to generate enough electricity to meet the growing power demand.

Unit No 2 of the KESC’s Bin Qasim Power Plant, whose repair was completed on Thursday, had to be shut down again early on Saturday, causing a shortfall of over 400 megawatts, forcing the utility to continue its vicious cycle of unannounced load-shedding.

Sources said the repaired Unit No 2 was generating power at half of its capacity, adding to the public’s miseries. Only domestic consumers were hit by the extensive load-shedding, as industrial areas was exempted from the curse.

When unit number 2 was reactivated around 5pm, the availability of power was to the tune of 1,840 MW whereas the demand was projected to be 2,230 MW.

The situation would not be any better on Sunday because the KESC has planned to undertake so-called repairs in many localities. The power utility’s failure to ensure uninterrupted supply pushed the city into a water crisis as some water pumping stations could also not operate in the absence of electricity.

It may be pointed out that the Bin Qasim plant, which is the premier KESC power generation facility, has not been able to function normally despite claims by the utility that it was being refurbished to provide optimum power. A day after the repair of unit no. 2 was completed, unit no. 3 had ceased to function on Friday, forcing citizens to go without electricity for several hours. Serious concerns were expressed over the dwindling generation capacity of the plant despite huge amounts being spent on its revamping.

The KESC has divided its distribution system into four groups for the purpose of load-shedding, which was stretching beyond two hours in each cycle.

Each group was supposed to undergo load-shedding four times a day, but actually many areas suffered for longer periods.

Residents of different areas said that while the utility was resorting to extensive load-shedding, it was also not attending to their complaints. Most of the areas experienced power outages for more than five hours, without any hint of concern shown by the KESC staff.

Apartment dwellers are the worst affected by the continuing power crisis as not only do they suffer in the heat, but they also face the problem of pumping water to their apartments.

While students will never forget this summer of discontent, the general public, along with businessmen and industrialists, are also up in arms over the impact of power outages on their lives and businesses.