KARACHI: Residents of Gulshan-i-Iqbal Blocks 6 and 7 complained of extended power outages in their neighbourhoods on Monday. K-Electric (KE), meanwhile, has said that this was part of “loadshedding” on their part due to decreased gas supply from the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC).

Many residents complained that they did not have electricity for 10 hours at a stretch; the power utility, however, said that it was not so.

“They are experiencing loadshedding in one to two-hour cycles,” said a KE spokesperson. “Other areas of the city are also experiencing the same,” he added.

According to KE, they are currently receiving gas supply at approximately 90mmcfd as opposed to 276mmcfd allocated by the Economic Coordination Committee (ECC).

They claim that their 500MW power plants are run solely on gas.

The low gas supply and non-operational power plants have created an additional shortfall in the system, which is expected to increase as the demand for power shoots up due to the hot weather.

Published in Dawn, April 10th, 2018