KARACHI, Sept 9: Power outages continued for long hours in many parts of the city on Sunday as the KESC failed to rectify the faults that had developed due to problems in one unit of the Bin Qasim power plant and two units of the of Korangi Thermal Power Station.

The power supply position was also affected as the surge in the KESC’s transmission system ruptured the link with Kanupp. Angry electricity consumers were complaining that most of the day there was no power and suddenly there was a burst of high voltage that damaged a large number of electrical appliances. The worst affected areas were Federal B. Area, North Nazimabad, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Shah Faisal, Malir and Korangi.

Many consumers reportedly sent SMS messages to the KESC spokesman and head of distribution but received no response.

Angry consumers from across the city rang up Dawn’s office to report that for the last two days they had been subjected to prolonged power outages and all their attempts to invite the KESC personnel’s attention to the problem had fallen on deaf ears, while no one was responding on the much-publicised 118 helpline.

Even when the power was restored, it was for a brief period, during which people experienced extremely low voltage, complained consumers.

An inquiry revealed that a clash of vested interests within the utility’s management had become more acute and each group was trying to embarrass the other, even if it had to be done at the cost of the public.

Insiders said the KESC was subjecting the people to long hours of power outages to cut the furnace oil cost, despite getting a subsidy from the government. The Siemens-led management of the KESC’s generation and transmission system was said to be responsible for this, apparently to run down the distribution network team now headed by the utility’s former chairman Tanzeem Hussain Naqvi.