KARACHI, July 31: Crowds of enraged people stormed KESC complaint centres in almost every zone of the utility on Monday after a complete breakdown of its service with the single span of power failure on Sunday running into many hours, 30 hours in some cases.

Holding the KESC officials accountable for the worst-ever service being offered to them since the new management has taken over the utility, the frustrated protesters demanded immediate restoration of power supply to their households.

Most of the protesters were angry at the indifferent attitude of those supposed to attend telephone calls of complainants. While indulging in altercation with the staff at the centres, the protesters were seen rebuking them for keeping the phones busy or not picking up the receivers.

They maintained that the centralised complaint number ‘118’ would always remain busy or put on a recorded message advising the caller to ‘wait for an operator’.

However, they regretted, the operator would never come on the line. They also deplored that the telephone numbers of local complaint centres would also remain busy most of the time while there was a breakdown in the concerned locality.

Explaining the cause of the power crisis, KESC officials said that more than 100 feeders were still lying dead. They said that it would take 36-48 hours to bring the situation under control. The KESC could only supply 1,000 megawatts to its consumers on Monday as against the usual supply of up to 2,000 megawatts in the cloudy season.

The less supply was due to numerous faults in the distribution system, they maintained.Sources in the KESC recalled that the previous management, led by army officers, had been carrying out repair work on war-footing in an emergency situation and all the management heads were made to remain present at the site till the situation was brought under control.

However, in the present monsoon downpour, the new KESC management appeared least concerned towards the consumers’ plight as no executive would bother to ensure his presence at a site of the repair work. The executives would just issue directives to their subordinates, they added.

The sources said that Sohail Wajahat, head the Siemens, the contract firm for management and operation, was a resident of Phase-V, Defence Housing Authority, where the KESC ensured an uninterrupted power supply and in case of power failure, the KESC stand-by generator was placed near his residence.

On the contrary, residents of various localities spent a sleepless night between Sunday and Monday and feared the same experience the following night as the KESC was unable to repair the faults in its distribution network.

Mr Aziz from Block-8, Clifton, said that power supply remained suspended for more than 20 hours and was still not restored. No one at the relevant KESC was picking up the phone to register a complaint, he added.

Calling from Block-9, Clifton, Dr Zaman said that the city of lights had been converted into a city of darkness by the KESC.

Ashfaq Rizvi, calling from Clifton, near Park View, said that power supply was discontinued at 10:30am on Monday and could not be restored as yet. Besides, drainage system in the locality had collapsed and the filthy water had made its way into the underground tank of drinking water, he said.

A consumer from Defence Phase-VII said that gutters were overflowing and sewage was entering houses while power was absent for more than 20 hours.

A woman consumer from Clifton Cottages also said that sewage and rainwater was getting mixed with drinking water by entering into the underground tanks, posing a serious health hazard. Besides, she said, there was no light for the past 24 hours.

Imtiaz Hasan and Arshad Ahmed from Defence Phase-VI said that their locality was deprived of power supply for the past 30 hours whereas water in overhead tanks had ended. Without electricity, motor pumps could not be operated. Children and ailing people were the hardest-hit in the absence of power. They complained of poor response from KESC complaint centres, saying that the ‘118’ centralised number played a recorded message advising a complainant to wait for some operator and after a long wait, the line was disconnected.

A power consumer in Korangi No. 2, Sector 48 B, said that power supply to his locality had been discontinued on Saturday night and even after 42 hours now, the same had not been restored yet.

A resident of Haroon Bungalows in Safoora Goth said that the power feeder in the name of Kiran Hospital Feeder tripped at 2pm on Sunday and could not be made functional even after a lapse of more than 30 hours now.

Jamshed Alam, a resident of Noman Avenue, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Block 20, said that people of this locality were made to spend a sleepless night between Sunday and Monday due to power failures. Despite numerous complaints lodged with the concerned KESC centre, no one turned up to rectify the fault. Even after the supply was restored on Monday morning, the electricity continued to play hide and seek the whole day.

A consumer from Sector 11-H in North Karachi said that power supply to this area was not being restored even after a lapse of 32 hours till Monday evening. He said the local complaint centre could not be reached by telephone as the phone remained busy all the time.

Aleem Qureshi from Block-14, Federal B Area, said that the power went off at around 3pm on Sunday and it was not restored after 30 hours now. The ailing Qureshi said that he was faced with severe hardship without electricity.

A woman consumer from PECHS Block-6 said that the power was suspended at 3pm on Sunday and could not be restored even after 30 hours. “Knee-deep water stands outside our house and power is off. We are tired of dialing complaint centre numbers as they always remain busy,” she said.

A doctor from Block-6 in PECHS said that the power remained off for several hours. The city government did not have a perception as it had dug up all roads of the city. The previous city government had shown some planning but the present one had done nothing but creating problems for people. “We pay heavy amount in taxes and in turn we get the poorest services from government institutions,” the annoyed doctor said.

A consumer in PECHS, Block II, said that power went off at midnight between Sunday and Monday and was not restored till the next midnight.

A woman consumer from Block-H in North Nazimabad said that the power went off at around 2pm on Monday and could not be restored till late in the night.

Another woman consumer, Shehla Fateh, calling from Jamshed Road, said that the power supply was disrupted in her locality at midnight and could not be restored after 20 hours.

A consumer from Soldier Bazaar said that the power went off at around 2:30pm on Sunday and was restored after 26 hours on Monday. However, it was again disconnected at around 7pm and was not restored as yet.

Besides, consumers from various blocks of North Nazimabad, Federal B Area, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Old Areas, Lyari, Landhi, Korangi, Malir, Orangi Town, New Karachi, Liaquatabad, Nazimabad, etc., made similar complaints on Monday night.