HYDERABAD: Prolonged power outages, widespread local faults and frequent breakdowns, coupled with the routine loadshedding, across the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) region seems to have turned into a crisis since the latest spell of monsoon rainfall that started last week.

Contrary to its claim that the power supply situation had become almost normal, Hesco has failed to bring the situation under control. The failure had brought enraged consumers, raising slogans against the power utility, to various roads and streets of Hyderabad on Friday after Hesco could not restore supply to most of the affected localities for 24-36 hours. Such protests were held on Saturday and Sunday and were still continuing till late Monday evening amid frequent and prolonged outages.

On Saturday evening, residents of Dastagir Colony blocked the main Airport Road, Latifabad. A man driving a car lost his temper, after having been stuck for long due to the road blockade, and whipped out his pistol to scare protesters. He exchanged hot word with protesters after he failed to find a clear way.

Hesco never accepted the allegation that its staff was demanding money to restore power supply to affected localities, but the protesters holding the demonstration claimed that they had paid Rs25,000 to some Hesco staff for the rectification of the fault that had rendered the pole-mounted transformers of their locality dysfunctional. They deplored that the PMT was not repaired or replaced even after the payment was made.

Residents of Latifabad Unit-8 also held a demonstration against Hesco for not attending to their complaints of hours-long outage while residents of a plaza located in Unit-7 of Latifabad claimed that their area had been without electricity for five days. They also claimed that a handsome amount of money was pooled by the affected families to make payment to the area’s Hesco staff for the repair/replacement of their area’s PMT.

They said many residents of the plaza had fallen ill due to the outage amid hot and humid weather conditions. They complained that their complaints were not even responded to during the initial three days.

Residents of Hesco’s Ilyasabad sub-division blocked roads in Phuleli and Tando Thoro in protest against a prolonged outages running into several days.

SUKKUR: In Kandhkot, several thousand residents of a vast area experienced the added misery of power outage amid hot and humid weather after the 11kV feeder-IV stopped functioning and could not be re-energised till late in the evening.

Power consumers had already endured a 20-hour outage when this report was filed at about 9pm.

Kandhkot officials of the Sukkur Electric Power Company (Sepco) told local reporters that the feeder had stopped functioning after a container-mounted long vehicle hit and brought down two poles. All cables resting atop the poles also snapped causing the outage, they said.

It was reported that the accident took place at the town’s toll plaza.

Sepco officials said that the work for the re-installation of poles and erection of cables was under way and normal power supply to the affected areas would hopefully be restored some time during the night.

Published in Dawn, August 11th, 2020