KARACHI, June 7: The Kara-chi Electric Supply Corporation may have stopped loadshedding, but it has failed to stop repeated power cuts from occurring in various parts of the city.
Calling from different localities, residents told Dawn on Friday that power supply had betrayed them more than once, for long periods.
Sohail Ahmed, a resident of North Nazimabad, Block A, told Dawn that his locality had experienced a three-hour power cut on Friday. “When I placed a call at 118, I was told that loadshedding was on. I told the 118 telephone attendant that the KESC had announced on Thursday that there would be no more loadshedding. He simply said that he was not aware of it.”
A KESC spokesman, however, denied that the power utility had resorted to loadshedding. He argued that when the KESC carried out loadshedding, power supply to a quarter of the city was switched off.
He added that two major faults had occurred on Friday: “The first fault occurred in the extra high-tension wires between SITE and Baldia at 8.30am. The fault was rectified by 10am. The second fault occurred in a transformer in Korangi which affected supply to a large area. The fault was rectified at around 5.30pm.”
A resident of the Korangi Crossing area told Dawn that his locality lost electricity at around 11am and regained it at 5.30pm, after more than six hours.
Javed Hasan called from PECHS, Block 2, at 8.30pm and told Dawn that his locality had been without electricity since 2pm.
A resident of Saddar told Dawn that the entire area had been facing intermittent power closures since morning.
A resident of Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Block 14, told Dawn that his area had faced three power closures with each lasting at least an hour. A resident of Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Block 17, told Dawn that his apartment had developed a different fault. “Some flats in my apartment have electricity while some are without it,” he said.
A resident of Buffer Zone, 15-A-1, said his locality faced intermittent power shutdowns at least four times a day. “Our regional complaint centre has a standard response to power complaints. They say there is cable fault.