KARACHI, May 28: Power breakdowns continued to occur in the city on Friday, as the Karachi Electrical Supply Corporation staff battled with cable faults in Zamzama.
Calling from many localities of the city, KESC consumers said they were experiencing at least two power breakdowns every day, mostly during the night.
They contested the KESC claim that it was not carrying out loadshedding. However, a spokesman for the power utility claimed that no major power breakdown occurred on Friday, adding that the localized power breakdowns were attended to on a priority basis.
Calling from Federal B Area, Block 15, a resident said that his locality experienced at least three power breakdowns on Friday. "Each power breakdown lasted about two hours.
Yesterday we remained without electricity for nine hours at a stretch. Every winter the KESC claims that it has rehabilitated the infrastructure to such an extent that it would not give way to the heat in summer.
But as soon as May comes, power breakdowns start occurring on a regular basis and the KESC's claims turn out to be false," he said. A resident of Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Block 2, said the chain of residential apartments in his locality lost their power supply at least two times at night. "These power breakdowns continue for a couple of hours every day.
When we call the complaint centre, they say that they are unaware about the power breakdown. They ask us to call the operations department, where officials also express ignorance about the power breakdowns. This lack of coordination on the KESC's part leaves us wondering whom to turn to in the event of a power breakdown," he said.
A resident of North Karachi, Sector 7D-2, said that fewer power breakdowns now occurred in his locality. "Nevertheless, on Friday, we remained without electricity for only one hour, from 4.45pm to 5.45pm. Previously, our locality used to witness many spells of prolonged power breakdowns," he said.
Meanwhile, the KESC spokesman told Dawn that a cable fault had occurred in Zamzama in the afternoon. "KESC staff tried to fix the fault on a provisional basis, but the cable developed another fault when it was energized. They therefore replaced the 180-metre cable and the power supply was restored around 9pm," he said.
The KESC spokesman said that two Liaquatabad feeders were switched off in the evening. "The feeders were switched off when a 500KVA pole-mounted transformer broke down. The replacement of a faulty transformer with a new one takes at least five hours," he explained.
He said that because of overloading, a feeder in Orangi Town had to be switched off at around 8.45pm. He pointed out that feeders were switched off because of overloading, only during the peak hours.