KARACHI, May 22: Power breakdowns continued to occur unabated on Thursday as the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation failed to fix its erring transmission and distribution network.
A resident of Nazimabad, Block 6, told Dawn there had been a lot of fluctuation of power in his locality. He said his friend, living in Block 7, had had such an abrupt power shutdown that the monitor of his computer set and other accessories had broken down.
A resident of an apartment in Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Block 15, said he had been without electricity since Asr.
“The localized power breakdown that we are suffering at the moment was preceded by a localized power fault which had deprived a couple of houses, including mine, of electricity. I have no idea when the electricity is restored at the end of the breakdown whether I will get my power connection or not.”
A resident of Lyari called to tell Dawn that there was a lot of resentment in his locality against prolonged power breakdowns which might spill over in the manner it had last Sunday. “After the incident of last Sunday, the regional complaint centre told us that KESC vehicles could not come into the area fearing attacks by enraged mobs. This is a flimsy excuse because the KESC staff would be penalized if they do not discharge their duties properly.”
A resident of Bhitai Colony said his locality had been without electricity for more than an hour on Thursday.
A resident of PECHS, Block 2, said his locality had experienced a power breakdown in the morning. “I first called 118 at around 10.30am. The telephone attendant said she was unaware about the real nature of the power breakdown because she had not been intimated about a power breakdown in PECHS, Block 2. “Nevertheless, she gave me a complaint number. After a couple of hours I called again to find out when the power supply would be restored. Another telephone attendant said the power supply should have been restored by now because it was an HT fault. When I told him that the power supply had not been restored, he said he would find out why it was so. I think that the KESC staff had intimated the centralized complaint centre without rectifying the fault.”