KARACHI, April 21: The transmission and distribution network of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation broke down in many places in the city as mercury rose to 38.5 degrees Centigrade on Monday.

Calling from Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Block 6, a consumer told Dawn that his locality had faced a prolonged power breakdown in the early hours of Monday. “When our power supply was restored in the morning after such a prolonged shutdown, we thought that we would be able to sleep. Our hopes, however, turned out to be short-lived, for we had another spell of a power breakdown. I could not go to work because I did not sleep at all the last night,” he said.

Calling from Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Blocks 16 and 17, KESC consumers told Dawn that they also had a power breakdown on Monday. A consumer calling from Block 17 of the same locality said he had a particularly bad time because the restoration of power supply to his area was followed by a localized fault. “The power breakdown of the entire locality was restored in a shorter time. We waited for hours on end before a KESC vehicle arrived and fixed the fault,” he said.

Another KESC consumer called from Kahkashan Homes in Gulzar Hijri. She said her locality had been facing nocturnal power breakdowns for the past three days. “The KESC seems to be oblivious of the fact that children’s examinations are just around the corner and they cannot concentrate on their studies in the absence of electricity. My locality on average has had electricity for only three hours in 24 hours during the last three days.”

A KESC consumer called from North Nazimabad to say that whenever the temperature rose the number of power breakdowns also increased. “This naturally leads to a rise in the number of people who call ‘118’ to lodge their power complaints. I have been calling ‘118’ since morning but to no avail. I do not want to come to the conclusion that KESC employees at 118 leave their phones off the hook to avoid cantankerous KESC consumers.”

Sources in the KESC said a large number of complaints had been received from North Karachi, Sector 11-B, where some KESC equipment had become faulty. A consumer from the same locality also told Dawn that his area had experienced a prolonged power breakdown. “It is strange that we still have a power breakdown on a daily basis. When some KESC equipment had developed a fault a couple of days back, we had been informed that the power utility would carry out loadshedding for some time. The loadshedding was supposed to last for four days. But we still lose our power supply almost daily.”

Buffer Zone also experienced some power breakdowns because consumers in 15-A-1 told Dawn that they had done without electricity for a couple of hours on Monday evening.