Never-ending lies about loadshedding

With her was not a routine conversation centred around the urban miseries of power shortages that we are currently experiencing and which the KESC, like a good politician, is seeking to blame previous systems and managements. The young medical undergraduate was irritated, impatient, angry, but generally sounding uncertain and disgusted. The uncertainty being ostensibly related to the unreliability of power supplies. I also got the impression that perhaps she had run out of individuals who wanted to hear her out on this subject that is likely to be with us for the foreseeable future.

One has, of late, come to realize that under the known and unknown circumstances related to the energy scenario in our lives, it is best to get ready (even auto suggestion will help) to face power shortages. Of course there are other aggravating and contributing factors that make power failures (or loadshedding) evoke the gloomiest scenarios in your life. An evening without electricity, in Karachi's May or June, for example, can suffocate a citizen if he or she has a breathing problem, as remarked a friend with whom I have been discussing our summer time woes.

Now this medical undergraduate (a student in one of the better medical colleges in town) in her phone call in distress referred to many points. She asked: “Does the KESC realize that this time of the year, the students of secondary the intermediate classes have been preparing for their annual examinations?” I wanted to tell her that the KESC cannot be bothered about this. It has far too many of its own woes.

The young Pakistani (decision-maker of tomorrow) asked: “Why doesn’t the KESC carry out its routine and necessary maintenance in winters? Why at this time, when there is a power shortage?” I wanted to tell her that after privatization, it is being done far more because of the neglect of the previous public sector managements.

Privatization of the KESC was completed in December 2005, and it is now about five months since the new management took over. She didn’t know this and didn’t care either. “Isn’t privatization welcome?” I asked her carefully. She was spontaneous, and candid: “I don’t know what this privatization is. If it is good, let us have electricity. If not, we don’t need it.” Period? No, not quite.

She went on. Now while I thought why unlike the public sector head of the KESC does not take public into confidence (even though that would not be enough, really), this young student made pointed references to the articulate KESC spokesman, who has been explaining the public utility’s point of view. She contended that for all that he (the spokesman) had been saying, there was no consideration of the public sentiment on this ongoing power shortage (loadshedding and failures) and all that he was doing was following his management’s written statement, and reading that out. I don’t know she would have understood that it was his job and he was doing that.

Like an angry restless young person, she moved on to another variation on this theme. Unlike Karachiites, in certain areas, who have resorted to violence, pelting stones and damaging property, as symbols of street protest, this medical undergraduate was only expressing herself verbally. She was upset that the KESC complaint numbers were never accessible, and that this only heightened frustration of consumers (meaning families; meaning men, women, and children living, in most cases, in small homes, poor rooms. This implies ill men and sick women, at times, or students preparing for examinations. One is suggesting that electricity (no longer a cheap proposition) failures have the potential to destabilise societies. It is not any relief to argue that the rural areas of the country have longer power failures or total blackouts.

We have all had our share of experiencing exasperation and misery when power failures occur, especially in the night hours. But what this Karachiite described to me was both gloomy and sad -- of the layers and layers of darkness that were spread out from one part of the city to another -- as he drove in darkness to somewhere near Liaquatabad, with long stretches of metalled road littered with stones, and scores of residents, unable to bear the heat and humidity were out on the streets. Also, if it means anything, tyres were being burnt to draw the attention of the authorities.

He stopped to ask some of them, at random, what good was it to have done this. One of them answered, as if for all of them, “what else can we do? You tell us what else can we do?” Hearing this, the Karachiite and his late night friend drove on.

One wonders whether one of them said to the other what the poet Nasir Kazmi wrote:

Mera moo kya dekh raha hai, dekh is kali raat ko dekh

Mein wohi tera humrahi hoon saath merey chalna hai tau chal

But let us return from poetry to the reality that this young student went on with. She was looking for solutions, as is the case with the young always. Not being a student of economics, and being young idealistic and naive, she did not easily understand the manipulations in the market. She mentioned the inflated prices of the Uninterrupted Power System (invertors in particular) which, she said, had been raised by 100 per cent. And then she gave vent to the suspicion that some KESC people were involved in this sort of price hike, and pointed out that more and more appliances that serve as standby power supply units are being sold in the markets across the country. This makes it relevant to mention here that more and more standby generators and UPS systems are being acquired by local shopping centres, markets, bazaars and offices

One may focus on this young student’s feelings which demonstrate the extent of the unhappiness and anguish of Karachiites today. And the bad news is that the sorrows on this count are likely to stay, if not grow. They are here for the entire summer. So bear, even if you cannot grin it away.

As far as the KESC is concerned, one would like to refer to something that is symbolic. The KESC chief (pre-privatization in all cases) appeared on a private TV channel in 2003, promising that summer 2006 would be trouble-free, loadshedding free!!. He was shown saying the same thing in summer 2004, then in summer 2005. Amazing? No disappointing. Simple.

Summer 2006 has begun, and the results are evident. Small wonder that the KESC is holding the past responsible for the failures of today.

In another context, who will apologise to the young of today?