KARACHI, Sept 25: Recurring tripping of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation’s extra high tension (EHT) line since Monday has left many parts of the city without electricity for more than 12 hours at a stretch, compelling KESC consumers to take to the streets to give vent to their anger against the utility.
On late Tuesday evening protesters briefly blocked the Super Highway near Sohrab Goth. People protesting at Pipri tried to block the National Highway, and residents of localities near Dalmia pelted vehicles with stones and burnt tyres to protest against power outages.
In some localities, angry consumers stormed the utility’s complaint centres, blocked traffic and set KESC vehicles on fire, police said.
As the mercury shot up to 39 degrees Celsius on Tuesday, the utility was short of over 300 megawatts and there was still no electricity in many parts since night, especially from 9pm on Monday, when the EHT line tripped, once again neutralizing its link with the Karachi Nuclear Power Plant, sources in the KESC told Dawn.
Despite the massive power outages, the KESC was not ending its unannounced load-shedding, they added.
The sources said Kanupp came on line at around 7.30am on Tuesday for a brief period and was again closed as both KESC links with the nuclear facility tripped. Kanupp officials blame the tripping on the unreliable EHT link provided by the KESC. Sources said late in the night that the connection had been restored.
The tripping had a devastating effect on the utility’s transmission and 11kV distribution systems. The worst affected localities were Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Orangi, Gulbahar, Nazimabad, Garden and Soldier Bazaar, Parsi Colony, Shah Faisal Colony, Malir, Qauidabad, Liaquatabad, Zaman Town, Federal B Area, Lyari, parts of the DHA and Clifton.
People spent sleepless night due power outages. Apartment dwellers were the worst affected as the power crisis had also created a water shortage.
Power riots were reported in Korangi Industrial Area’s Sector 17, near Bilal Chowrangi, where energy-starved residents stormed a KESC complaint centre , pelted vehicles with stones, blocked vehicular traffic and set a KESC truck on fire, the sources said.
The collapse of the KESC system caused a shortfall of over 300 megawatts and the utility resorted to massive load-shedding because not only its own generation dipped while many of its grid stations were knocked off by the ‘tripping’ of its overloaded EHT line.
Karachiites were enraged over the persisting power outages despite promises to the contrary made by KESC officials and the federal minister for water and power.
There were also reports of fluctuations and a low-voltage supply in many areas. Residents complained that the erratic supply was damaging their electrical appliances.
When the desperate consumers tried to seek information about the cause of the breakdown and expected restoration of power supply, many of them complained that KESC people at the complaint centers did not respond to their questions.
As the massive load-shedding continued across the city on Tuesday amid scorching heat, people demanded strong action against the KESC management for failing to ensure uninterrupted power supply. They said the consumers should not pay utility bills as they did not get proper service.
The industry had also been up in arms against the utility. Small traders were especially perturbed because prolonged power outages were damaging their business before Eid. They threatened “direct action” against the utility.
Several villages in Gadap town have been badly hit by power failure for the past few days, forcing the residents of the affected areas to come out on the roads to register their protest on Tuesday.
The worst affected villages included Old Thana, Jam Goth, Biro Goth, Samoo Goth, Memon Goth, Deh Thana Malir, Kathore and Darsano villages. The electricity supply of these villages went off on Monday night and it was restored at 12 noon on Tuesday.
Residents have complained that frequent power failure is now an everyday occurrence in the villages, saying that despite their repeated protest calls, the authorities concerned do not respond to their grievances.
They said that not only their routine life had been disturbed by the electricity failure, but also their agricultural activity which depended on an uninterrupted tube-well operation.
