KARACHI: Residents’ protests against the disruption of electric and water supplies to their localities caused severe traffic jams in major parts of the city on Friday, piling miseries on commuters who remained stuck on the roads and streets for hours.

Hundreds of vehicles moved bumper-to-bumper at a snail’s pace on a portion of the M. A. Jinnah Road and Shahrah-i-Quaideen for hours, further leading to traffic jams on the connecting roads and streets, including Preedy Street and Sharea Faisal.

The residents of Jacob Lines, including women and children, took to the streets a little after noon in protest against disconnection of power supply in their vicinity and blocked the signal-free Corridor-III from Saddar to Peoples Chowrangi.

The protesters said that K-Electric had disconnected the power supply in their locality three days ago due to non-payment of bills, which they said were excessive and unjustified.

Protests against prolonged loadshedding cause traffic mess in downtown

The power utility, however, said that the electricity of defaulters was disconnected in Jacob Lines, Madina Road and 75 Quarters in Lines Area where the outstanding amount exceeded Rs450 million.

A KE spokesman urged the residents to ensure timely payment of their electricity bills as timely payments played a major role in reducing or eliminating loadshedding in the area.

The residents said that the power disconnection also led to a severe shortage of water in their localities which mainly affected women and children in houses, disrupting daily life. They said that they had staged the protest after being frustrated over three days’ long power cut.

Later, the power supply was restored after the residents assured the power utility that they would clear their outstanding dues. Due to protest at Society Chowrangi, the traffic from Noorani Chowk was diverted to Khalid Bin Waleed Road and traffic from Kashmir Road to Peoples Chowrangi was diverted to Numaish Chowrangi on M. A Jinnah Road.

The absence of traffic police to divert traffic at certain places compelled some of the passers-by to regulate traffic themselves amid altercations among the commuters.

In Shershah, a locality in district West, residents staged a protest against prolonged and unannounced loadshedding and erected barricades on the streets, causing traffic jam. They said that the loadshedding was being carried out in their locality despite the fact that the residents were paying their electricity bills regularly.

They chanted slogans against the power utility and said that the frequent power breakdowns had made the lives of people miserable while the provincial authorities were sitting like a silent spectator.

The protestors later dispersed peacefully after the intervention of police and the administration.

Protest against water shortage

In Korangi, residents took to the streets against water shortage in their area. They chanted slogans against the water utility and demanded that the water supply be restored in the locality.

They said that water had not flowed in their taps for the past two weeks and the water utility officials had not paid any heed to their plight despite several complaints.

The charged protestors also tried to forcibly enter into the offices of the deputy commissioner and Korangi Town Office.

Later, they dispersed after the administration assured that their complaints would be addressed.

Published in Dawn, October 5th, 2024