KARACHI: Severe traffic congestion paralysed I.I. Chundrigar Road, Dr Ziauddin Ahmed Road and adjoining areas in the city’s business district for hours on Monday after residents of Railway Colony staged a protest near Shaheen Complex against prolonged, “unannounced power outages lasting up to 16 hours” daily.

The demonstration, which began shortly after noon, brought vehicular movement to a standstill for over two hours, with streets in adjoining areas, including Saddar and Pakistan Chowk, clogged, and commuters stranded under the scorching heat as queues of vehicles stretched for kilometres.

Angry residents of Railway Colony, including women and children, gathered at the Shaheen Complex intersection, blocking traffic. They chanted slogans against K-Electric for resorting to “unannounced” loadshedding for long hours.

The protesters demanded immediate restoration of electricity and said that unannounced loadshedding of up to 16 hours in their locality had made life unbearable amid extreme heat.

A resident said that for the past several weeks, they had not had proper electricity. “Our children can’t sleep, patients are suffering, and there’s no water because the pumps don’t work without electricity,” he said, cursing the power utility.

Muhammad Aslam, another resident, said that they regularly paid their bills, yet were forced to live without electricity for 16 hours. “How long can we stay silent?” he asked.

Another protester, Shazia Bibi, said that unannounced loadshedding for long hours was nothing but torture. “Our food is rotting, we can’t charge our phones, and the heat is killing us,” she lamented, urging KE to feel their pain.

The sudden roadblock also added to the misery of thousands of office-goers, students and patients who remained stuck in bumper-to-bumper traffic for a long time in the scorching midday heat.

“I left my house at 12 noon and remained stuck in traffic till 1pm near Shaheen Complex,” said Sanam Waqas, a housemaid working in Saddar.

A woman who was taking her father to a hospital in Saddar said that they were stuck in the traffic mess for 90 minutes with no way out.

“If something had happened to him, who would answer?” she said, adding that protest was a citizen’s right, but blocking roads punished ordinary people.

A heavy contingent of police reached the site and negotiated with the demonstrators. The protest was dispersed after nearly half an hour, but the resulting traffic jam took over two hours to clear.

‘Power disconnected due to non-payment’

The KE, in a statement, said that power supply to “defaulters” in City Railway Colony was disconnected due to non-payment.

A spokesperson for the power utility said that electricity was later restored after assurances from area elders regarding the timely payment of outstanding bills.

He said that the timely payment of bills was a key factor in reducing or eliminating loadshedding in an area.

Published in Dawn, April 28th, 2026