KARACHI, June 15: The number of complaints received by the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation on Tuesday stood at 3,500, despite the fact that temperature has been following a downward curve for the past two days.

Calling from different localities, the KESC consumers told Dawn that they had experienced prolonged power breakdowns on Tuesday, as the centralized complaint centre - better known as 118 - kept them in the dark about the nature and duration of the shutdowns.

A resident of Defence, Phase-V, said the previous night they had experienced a power shutdown from 8pm to 2am. "We tried to contact the complaint centre of our area, but telephones at the complaint centre were either engaged all the time or were not attended," she said.

A resident of the Dastagir Society, Federal B Area, Block 19, said that of late his locality had been experiencing multiple power breakdowns. Another resident of the same locality said they had been facing a water shortage because of prolonged power shutdowns.

"Whenever there is a power cut, we cannot use our water motor. This naturally creates a water shortage," he said. A resident of Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Block 14, said his locality had experienced a power breakdown in the morning. "I first called 118 at around 10.30am.

The telephone attendant said he was unaware about the real nature of the breakdown. He gave me a complaint number. At around 2.30pm, I again called 118. On learning that the power supply had not been restored, the attendant said that he would inform the power centre once again.

I then called my localized complaint centre after finding its telephone numbers written on the back of my power bill. The localized complaint centre told me that the power supply had been switched off because of some maintenance work.

The telephone attendant at the localized complaint centre said that 118 should not have given me the complaint number, because it was a maintenance shutdown. He conceded that the there was a lack of communication between the localized complaint centres and the centralized complaint centre."

KESC sources said that power breakdowns had occurred in Federal B Area, North Nazimabad, Sharafabad, Dhoraji, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, New Karachi, Gulistan-i-Jauhar and Korangi.

A resident of North Karachi, Sector 11-B, told Dawn that his locality had faced the first power breakdown at 9.30pm the previous night. "The power supply was restored at 8am on Tuesday. The next power breakdown occurred at 1.30pm, which lasted till 6pm. Two hours later, at 8pm, the power supply once again deserted us."

KWSB GENERATORS: Due to frequent electricity breakdowns, the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board has started work on installation of two heavy generators at its Gharoo Pumping House for smooth supply of water to the city during loadshedding, adds PPI.