KARACHI, July 4: Frequent power failures and fluctuating voltage has caused extensive damage to expensive electrical appliances including air-conditioners and lifts of apartment buildings, besides affecting the city’s overall water supply position.

Residents of different multi-storied apartment buildings complained that unannounced load-shedding and low voltage problem persisting in their localities for the last one month or so not only created water shortage but also damaged their costly electrical appliances, including air-conditioners, and lifts of their apartment buildings.

“In fact, both the lingering issues – power breakdowns and low voltage – have made our lives miserable in the current hot and humid weather,” remarked an elderly resident of Gulshan-i-Iqbal’s Erum Apartments.

Residents of another seven-storied apartment building ‘Civic View’ said that at least two lifts of their apartment building had gone out of order owing to persisting low voltage problem. “Since we are being supplied between 310 and 320 amperes as against the required 430 amperes, one of the lifts went out of order as its inverter which costs over Rs130,000 had been badly damaged while the other lift developed problem in its door closing system.

“As we have been confronting frequent power breakdowns and a very low voltage problem for over two months now, we are compelled to operate lifts of our apartment building most of the time on diesel. By now we have incurred a huge amount on the purchase of the fuel,” the building management claimed.

Residents of various other localities complained that they had been either getting scant supply or remain without water for days together as power failures of longer duration and low voltage during their schedule of getting water supply had become a matter of routine.

“Whenever power breakdowns coincide with the schedule of water supply, we go without water for another two days as we are supplied water on alternative days,” a resident of Gulshan-i-Iqbal’s Block-2 complained.

“Sometimes either there is no electricity or the voltage is so low that we cannot pump water to our overhead tanks from our under-ground tanks,” a resident of a multi-storied building of Gulistan-i-Jauhar complained.

Many such complaints have been received from the residents of Gulshan-i-Iqbal’s Blocks 2, 13-D and 4-A, North Nazimabad’s blocks I, J, M, N, P, Q, S, Liaquatabad, Qasimabad, Pak Colony, Yaseenabad, Gharibabad, Federal B’ Area, different sectors of North Karachi and New Karachi and parts of Old City Area.

Admitting that water supply position of different localities was being affected owing to frequent power failures taking place at local pumping stations, KWSB officials said that they had been trying to cope up with the water shortage problem of those localities which were getting less quantity of water on their turn owing to power failures.