KARACHI, June 10: The transmission and distribution system of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation kept breaking down in many localities of the city on Monday as the power utility launched an operation against electricity pilferage.

The residents of PECHS, Federal B. Area, Saddar and North Nazimabad told Dawn that their areas had been without electricity more than once, specially in the early hours of Monday.

A resident of PECHS, Block 6, said that frequent power failures had forced them to stay awake the previous night.

A resident of Federal B. Area, Block 17, told Dawn that his locality had also received interrupted power supply the previous night.

“I had to wake up early to go to a government office for some work. But because of power breakdown, I kept tossing and turning in bed, unable to sleep. As a result, I overslept and failed to reach the government office on time.”

Tanveer Arif, a resident of North Nazimabad, Block A, told Dawn that the previous night the pole-mounted transformer in his locality developed a fault after emitting sparks. “We went to the complaint centre of our area to get the KESC staff. They first told us that they did not have a vehicle. Later, they said they did not have the equipment. They made one excuse after another and we had to spend the night without electricity,” he said.

A resident of Saddar told Dawn that his area faced multiple but brief power failures on Monday.

A resident of Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Block 11, told Dawn that his locality faced five power failures the previous day. “We heaved a sigh of relief when the power supply was restored at last, but our spirits were soon dampened because we had only one phase. All the three phases returned today at four o’clock,” he said.

A resident of Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Block 7, told Dawn that his locality had also faced night-long power failures. “My regional complaint centre tells me that power closures occur due to overloading. If that is the case, they should check it and do something about it. How long will we have to face power failures for no fault of ours?” he wondered. He also complained that the centralized complaint number 118 remained engaged all the time.

A KESC spokesman said that a team, helped by army-monitoring teams, removed illegal kunda connections from Abdullah Goth, Ramazan Goth, Asma Villas and KESC Employees Society located in Sector 34-A, Scheme-33.

“These kundas, specially in the Goth areas, were acquired from a long distance through wires fixed on several sticks. All the materials used in these kunda connections were also confiscated,” he added.

He said that during the action, those who showed their temporary paid bills were asked to contact the KESC Gulistan-i- Jauhar office to regularize their kundas.

“Some of the dwellers in Asma Villas held the builders responsible for their electricity problems, who took Rs40,000 each from utility connections and then disappeared,” the spokesman said.

He added that on Monday, 50 kundas were removed from Asma Villas, 100 from Ramazan Goth and three from KESC’s thinly-populated employees society.