August 01, 2008	Friday	Rajab 28, 1429

JACOBABAD, July 31: The people of Kashmor-Kandhkot district, including areas of Tangwani, Ghouspur, Karampur, braved a 72-hour power breakdown making their lives hell in the hot season.

Residential localities suffered the most.

People from different parts of Kashmor-Kandhkot district complained that they were without electricity for more than 72 hours as three days had been passed without electricity.

Kandhkot, Kashmor, Tangwani, Ghouspur and other areas remained without power since past four days which created great trouble for the people.

In the city area, shopkeepers complained that they could not sit inside their shops due to long hours of breakdown and hot weather. They said no one was coming to buy anything in the present situation.

Children and women stayed indoors waving fans.

A number of people got affected by gastroenteritis and fell unconscious and were taken to hospitals.

Patients who were admitted to the Civil Hospital complained that the power outage made their life miserable.

They said rich people were using generators while the poor had passed three days without electricity.

The power outage for long duration also created shortage of drinking water.

The donkey-cart owners were selling a drum of water for Rs100 which is too costly and poor people could not afford to get water for drinking.

Non-availability of electricity also affected sewerage system and sewage could not be drained out which was standing on roads and causing trouble and spreading diseases in the city.

Hesco authorities do not know how poor villagers were passing their life in rural areas. Woman used to carry their infant children in their arms whole day due to poor conditions. Mosquitoes and other insects were another problem.

Chakki machines were not working due to power outage, which had deepened the flour crisis in the rural areas and in number of cases people were borrowing atta from their neighbours.

There are reports of protest demonstrations from different villages against unscheduled and long hours of loadshedding.

When contacted, Hesco executive engineer Munawar Abbasi said that Hesco was replacing a low capacity transformer with high capacity one at a grid station which caused the power outage.

He claimed that the replacement would ultimately facilitate people.