KARACHI, Feb 14: Power failures did not observe Eid holidays on Wednesday and Thursday as many localities remained without electricity.

Karachi Electricity Supply Corporation consumers told Dawn on Friday that all those localities which were so luckless as to have power breakdowns during Eid had to do without electricity for hours on end as the KESC staff responded to power complaints very late.

Calling from Shah Faisal Colony, Majeed Khan, a college-going student, told Dawn that their enthusiasm about Eid festivities had dampened considerably when they had a power breakdown in the early hours of Wednesday. “Actually our Eid got off to a very bad start. My Eid clothes, as well as those of my family members, were all unironed. We had no clue how to go to say our prayers in rumpled clothes. Finally we went to mosque in old clothes and wore pressed clothes afterwards when the power supply was restored.”

Calling from Paradise Cottages on Abul Hassan Isphahani Road in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, a consumer said that they had been without electricity since the previous night. “We registered a complaint with the KESC complaint centre but no action was taken by the power utility. The foodstuff in our freezer was spoilt because of the prolonged power breakdown.”

A resident of Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Block 16, told Dawn that his locality faced a recurring fault — breakdown of one of the three phases — during Eid. “One power phase keeps breaking down. We lodge our complaints with our complaint centres and with 118. The KESC vehicles do not show up during the day. They come to our places at night.”

Aziz Ahmed, calling from Saddar, said that the centralized complaint centre, better known as 118, had not kept its consumers informed about the nature of power breakdowns. “I called 118 on Wednesday at around 2pm. The telephone attendant told me that there was a cable fault in my area which was being repaired. When I went out I realized that only my house was facing a power breakdown. I had to find an electrician who repaired the fault and restored the power supply. I again phoned 118 and was told that the cable fault was being repaired!”

Latif Mughal, calling from PECHS, Block 6, told Dawn that his locality had lost electricity at twelve noon on Friday. “When I called my complaint centre a telephone attendant told me he had no idea when our power supply would be restored. Being a former KESC official, I can tell you that previously — before the takeover of the KESC by the army — the staffers used to be more informed about the status of faults. Now the army has made everybody so much afraid that no KESC official dares tell people why a fault has occurred.”

Calling from Federal B Area, Block 12, a consumer told Dawn that while his Eid holidays had not been spoilt by a power breakdown, he had been without electricity since morning on Friday.