KARACHI, Sept 11: People across the city braved another day of prolonged power breakdowns on Sunday as the electricity transmission and distribution system of the army-managed utility collapsed in the face of the downpour lashing the city since Saturday morning. A KESC tower near Port Qasim Morr, off National Highway, was damaged after it was bombed by unknown persons. The utility officials said that the tower carrying high transmission line of 220KV, sustain a tilt as two of its pillars were damaged in a blast. Following the explosion, KESC engineers and senior officials went to the site and got the tower repaired, they added.

Police have registered a case against unknown persons for trying to blow up the tower.

As power failures continued to hit many areas, people complained that the KESC, despite charging exorbitantly high tariffs, was not providing the matching service.

A woman resident of Block-17, Federal B Area, said that power went off as soon as it started raining at around 11:45am. She said that while electricity could not be restored till the evening, the helpline ‘118’ for complaints remained continuously busy. It was only at 8pm that the power supply was restored, she added.

An irate KESC consumer said that power supply discontinued in Korangi Crossing and its adjoining areas at around 7:30am on Saturday and was restored next morning, at around 2am. Only five hours later, power went off again and was restored at 5pm on Sunday.

Another consumer from F.B. Area’s Block 14 said that power supply was suspended at around noon and was restored at 4pm.