We in Karachi pay electricity bills on time but still face up to 10 hours of loadshedding.
KARACHI: This is with reference to your letter of June 8 titled “Tormented by the KESC”.
All around the world, people pay electricity bills for an uninterrupted supply of power to their homes in order to live a normal life where they can run their electrical appliances safely. We in Karachi pay electricity bills on time but still face up to 10 hours of loadshedding. In addition to this, we often have to deal with prolonged breakdown of power due to what the KESC calls ‘feeders tripping’ (which happens every other day).
Then there is the issue of voltage fluctuations. Several of my home’s appliances have been damaged because of severe voltage fluctuations and for that am I to ask the utility for compensation? Let’s be realistic — even if I did, would it pay me for their repair? Then, of late, we have the matter of only one phase out of three coming and this continues for days. When we ring the KESC call centre, we are told that work is being done but we do this several times throughout the day and we are still told the same thing.
To make matters worse, bill-paying subscribers are told, quite bluntly, that because of a strike by workers, the company cannot really do anything to fix these faults. I know of instances where people have had no light for days on end, with no relief in sight. And I live in Clifton block nine, which admittedly is one of Karachi’s more affluent neighbourhoods. I can only imagine what life must be like for those who live in some of the less well-to-do areas. No wonder residents of the city, from time to time, come out on the streets and burn tyres. If your light has gone for four or five days, and you have no water in your home, even to drink, and the company’s staff is not willing to even pick up the phone to register your complaint, what would you do?
Mufaddal Tambawala
Published in The Express Tribune, June 13th, 2011.
