KARACHI, Nov 1: The Karachi Electric Supply Corporation failed to follow the loadshedding schedule on Friday as many areas which were supposed to be without electricity for one hour faced prolonged power breakdowns.

In addition, those areas which were not supposed to face loadshedding at all also remained without electricity.

The KESC announced on Wednesday that it would carry out one-hour loadshedding from Thursday between 6pm and midnight.

It was stated that the power utility had arranged a German engineer for work on 132KV grid station equipment at the 132 KDA Valika which would continue till Nov 1.

Calling from Federal B-Area, Block 18, a resident said his locality lost electricity around 2pm.

“According to the KESC schedule, the loadshedding was supposed to begin in the evening, but we lost our power supply around 2pm. It was very hot at that time. I called the Met Office to find what the temperature was. I was told that at that time it was 36 degrees Celsius.

It is criminal on the part of the KESC to switch off power supply when it is so hot,” he said.

Another resident of the same area, who owned a commercial concern, said he stored power in emergency lights when he knew that the loadshedding would begin at a certain time. “What happened was that we had such a prolonged power breakdown that we could not store power in our emergency lights. If we have to suffer loadshedding in the evening as well, I will not be able to do any business,” he said.

Calling from Landhi, Saeed-uz-Zafar, an elderly man, said he had no idea what to do about the frequent power breakdowns in his locality.

“I have not been keeping well. I find it very difficult to sleep without a fan. Now what happens is that I become very edgy because of erratic sleeping hours, thanks to power shutdowns. This raises my blood pressure.”

An indignant resident of New Karachi said her ordeal had begun early in the morning when her locality had lost two out of the three phases of electricity.

“Till noon, we had only one phase of electricity. Then at noon we lost all the three phases of electricity. We have been without electricity for the past eight hours.

“Because of such a prolonged power breakdown we have no water at home. You can imagine what a person feels when he or she has no water at home on a Friday. When we called the KESC complaint centre of our area the telephone attendant said our power supply would be restored in a short while. It is beyond me why they lie when they themselves do not know when their colleagues will rectify the fault and restore electricity.”

A caller from Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Block 14, said he had told Dawn several times that there were many illegal connections in his apartment.

“I have even written letters to the editor mentioning the exact address so that the KESC could take action against those who pilfer power and cause power breakdowns to occur frequently. Ironically, so far the KESC has done nothing to remove the illegal connections and arrest the power thieves,” he said.