KARACHI, July 7: Power breakdowns in various areas continued in the hot and humid weather on Thursday making the lives of people miserable. Officials of the KESC attributed the power breakdowns to local faults and denied any major power breakdown. However, people blamed the KESC for its poor performance and said the utility service had never made efforts to improve its faulty system.

An irate consumer said power outages had become a daily routine in his locality, Buffer Zone, Sector 15-B, usually in the morning from 9am to 10am, 1pm to 3pm and after midnight from 1am to 2am.

Sometimes, the breakdown lasted from three to four hours and without any announced schedule, which was very irritating, he said. Low voltage was an additional problem.

Over billing is another area of concern for consumers. The new meters installed by the KESC are said to be running at faster speeds than the old ones creating a difference of about 35 per cent in the billing.

A consumer said that electricity in Gulshan-i-Iqbal’s 13/D/III area went out every morning from 6am to 8am.

An exasperated consumer from Erum Palace, in Block 13-A, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, said that electricity went off at about 10am on Wednesday (June 6) and was restored at about 9.30pm on Thursday (June 7).

He said he had called on the KESC’s complaint no ‘118’ several times on Wednesday, but either the line was busy or nobody responded. On Wednesday, one of the two phases was working, he said.

Only a few apartments had electricity while others including his suffered a power breakdown for almost 36 hours, he said.

The misery was compounded with no water for two days because of power failure, added the consumer.

He further said the KESC officials said that an underground fault had occurred because of water from a sewerage, which had damaged the cables; however, he asked why was there a 36-hour delay in taking action.

The electricity was restored on Thursday night after working on the fault during the day, as the KESC staff refused to work during the night.

“If they wanted to work during the day, they should have rectified the fault on Wednesday, but why did they punish the people for their inept performance,” he questioned.

In Block “L”, North Nazimabad, a citizen complained that people braved two spells of power breakdowns, stretching one hour each early Thursday morning. The breakdowns badly disturbed the routine of office-goers.

A citizen said power was discontinued for an hour at 3pm in the locality adjacent to the Karachi University on the main University Road in Scheme 33.

He said power breakdowns in his area were a routine feature and despite frequent complaints to the KESC, there was no improvement.

A resident of Block-17 in Federal B Area said power went off in his area in the morning at around 6am and was restored after two hours.

Power failure in the area was a routine, he claimed, and the KESC officials were least concerned with improving the situation.