On March 23, K Electric began a regimen of unprecedented load-shedding under the guise of insufficient gas supply. After the intercession of the then chief minister, National Electric Power Regulatory Authority officials and the then prime minister, KE was found to be at fault, and after a month of suffering, regular power supply was restored to Karachi on April 24.

Then again on May 4, KE took out an ad claiming that due to maintenance, it would not be able to supply Karachi with regular power for the next three to four days. More than a month has passed since this ad was published and Karachi is still suffering from irregular power supply.

To what authority do the citizens of Karachi turn to for having their power woes addressed? Who has bestowed on KE the right to act with impunity? What is the point of consumers paying their power bills if KE refuses to provide service?

Bilal M. Khan

Karachi

Published in Dawn, June 20th, 2018