During blackout baby utters first word — ‘torch’
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KARACHI: The city of lights turned into the city of darkness yet again on Thursday when at around 2am power supply from 12 of the 64 K-Electric grid stations stalled due to tripping of the KDA auto-transformer, causing a breakdown in parts of the city.
Though the problem lasted a couple of hours, the already harassed citizens of Karachi complained that they had to carry out Sahri preparations in the dark.
“I almost got burnt alive in the kitchen today preparing Sahri. It was hot and I was just wiping off the sweat from my forehead with my dupatta when a part of it caught fire from the stove. Thankfully my daughter, who was helping me at the time, saw it and threw my burning dupatta in the sink to stop the fire from spreading. KE fails us in the most crucial of times,” said Aliya Sultana, a housewife from Malir.
“We had been waiting for this moment for months. And today at Sahri time, I heard my baby utter his first word. It wasn’t ammi or abbu. It was ‘torch’. Thank you KE!” said Hamid Akhtar from North Nazimabad.
About the breakdown, a KE spokesman said that the supply of power was interrupted due to tripping of the auto-transformer, causing a breakdown in Nazimabad, North Nazimabad, F. B Area, Azizabad, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Malir and its surrounding areas. “As soon as the fault occurred, KE engineers and Rapid Response team worked rigorously for the restoration of the tripped transformer in order to continue supply of power for its valued customers. KE utilised all its resources in order to fix all network issues and enable it to function in the usual manner,” the spokesman said.
Meanwhile, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board said that due to a power breakdown at 3.25am at their Dhabeji pumping house some five pumps of K-2 and K-3 stopped pumping water. Later, after power was restored K-3 was back to working at around 4.25am and K-2 at 4.50am. Due to this the city experienced a water shortage of 15MGD.
In addition, the KWSB pumping house in Karachi’s northeast also experienced a power breakdown at 3am. Altogether, due to the previous day’s 14-hour power breakdown, the past two days saw a water shortfall of 525MGD, the effects of which may continue for the coming three days.
Published in Dawn, July 10th, 2015
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