KARACHI: Power cuts persist in city

Published June 23, 2004

KARACHI, June 22: The Karachi Electric Supply Corporation on Tuesday failed to provide uninterrupted power supply to its consumers in the city. A resident of Buffer Zone, Block 15-A-4, said that his locality had electricity only for a couple of hours the previous night.

"I reached home late at night, only to find that the entire locality was plunged into darkness. I walked to a roadside eaterywhose owner sells burgers all night. I stayed there till the early hours of Tuesday. When I came home again, I was told that power supply had been restored only half an hour ago. As I settled down to sleep, power supply once again left us," he recalled.

Another resident of the same locality but from Block 15-A-1 said that his locality had been without electricity from 6am to 8am. A resident of Federal B Area, Block 20, said he was most upset with the KESC which failed to provide electricity to his locality, especially at night.

"This has been going on for the past few days. The power supply deserts us - and other blocks such as 17, 18 and 19 - many times at night. We lodge complaints with the KESC but they seem to care little about us," he said.

A resident of Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Block 8, said his locality had experienced a nightlong power breakdown the previous night. A resident of PECHS, Block 2, informed Dawn that his locality faced power shutdowns at least two times a day.

A resident of North Nazimabad, Block H, said that for the past one week his locality had a power breakdown for more than two hours every day. "It is hard to believe the KESC's claim that the power demand is within 2,000 megawatts and it is not carrying out loadshedding on a rotational basis," he said. KESC officials could not be contacted for comments.