KARACHI, June 9: Power breakdowns in different localities continued on Thursday as the army-managed KESC failed to overcome its inefficiency and rectify its distribution and transmission system. Officials in the KESC said that the situation could not have aggravated so had the utility been able to control power theft openly resorted to in various areas.
People in general said that the army-controlled utility had been sending inflated bills to consumers in a bid to swell revenue generation and appease the government over its performance.
They deplored that everyone knew about the rampant power theft in certain areas but the KESC had never launched any operation against the thieves.
Shopkeepers on Abdullah Haroon Road staged a protest demonstration against power failure in the area. They were holding placards inscribed with slogans against the KESC. They said that the area was without power for the past three days and the KESC officials were giving only lame excuses, assuring them of restoration of power supply very soon.
An irate citizen said that he shifted recently to Buffer Zone, Sector 15-B, and the situation here was very bad. Power breakdowns were so common and without specific timing, usually from 10am to noon or from noon to 1pm. Sometimes, electricity went off in the evening, after sunset, and the spell would last about one-two hours. Apart from loadshedding, the area people had also been facing low voltage and fluctuation problems during peak hours.
An angry consumer from Gulistan-i-Jauhar’s Block-18, said that his area suffered power failure on Wednesday from 8:30pm to 10pm, and again on Thursday morning from 9:30am to 10am.
Exasperated by the KESC’s poor performance, a resident of Edward Street, Garden East, said that he was fed up with the annoying performance of utility personnel. “Since 5pm, power has gone off and I have been making calls on the local complaint cell’s numbers. Whenever I make a call, I am given a new number to seek help. It’s 10pm now and power has not been restored yet. The number ‘118’ is continuously busy. I don’t understand where to go to lodge a complaint.”
A consumer said power breakdowns would take place in block 13-A, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, especially at about 6am, almost every day. There was a breakdown at 3pm on Thursday for two hours. He said that KESC officials had been attributing power breakdowns to the current heat wave. He asked the officials about the reason of power failure early in the morning, and the reason why power breakdowns did not occur in Saudi Arabia where temperature rose to 50 degree Celsius.
Another consumer, from Phase II, Defence Housing Society, said that the power shutdown occurred for eight hours on Wednesday.
Yet another consumer from Block 16-A, KDA Overseas Bungalows, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, said that power went off at around 4.30pm on Thursday for an hour and again the area plunged into darkness at around 9:30pm. Power supply could not be restored till late in the night.
Another infuriated consumer from the 28th street, Phase V Extension, said that the power failures in his area for a spell of three-four hours during day time and another spell during night hours were a routine.
A resident of Block 14, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, said that the unannounced loadshedding for one hour in the morning and for another hour in the evening had been resorted to for many days. There were no specific timings for the loadshedding, he said.