Karachi blackout: Power supply still interrupted in Shah Faisal Colony

Most of Karachi, parts of lower Sindh plunged into darkness a day earlier

KARACHI: Although the K-Electric (K-E) officials claimed to have restored power supply in the entire metropolis, Shah Faisal Colony was one area that was not so lucky.

According to Khursheed Ali, a journalist living in Tariq bin Ziyad Society, the area has been facing power breakdown since Friday morning when almost the entire city was plunged into darkness. "Generally, I have no grievances against K-E regarding the load-shedding but the breakdown due to the tripping of high-tension wires has left our area in complete darkness and the problem has not been entirely resolved as yet," he said.

Musarrat Jabeen, a resident, said that the problem has been persisting in Shah Faisal Colony since the blackout on Friday. "We could only get electricity supply for one hour since the breakdown started," she said. Jabeen added that when her husband inquired from K-E officials about the problem, they were surprisingly unaware about the reason of the breakdown in the area. However, after repeated calls, the officials claimed the breakdown was a technical one.

Another resident of Malir Halt, Nasir Khan, who runs a shop, said, "There is no electricity since Saturday morning. Although, the situation has been normalised in all the areas of Karachi, our area is facing a huge problem due to unavailability of electricity. We are not aware when the power will resume properly in our area."

According to the deputy spokesperson of K-E, the power supply in the entire city has been restored. Commenting on the situation in Shah Faisal Colony, he said that there might be preventive maintenance shutdown in the area.

Earlier, on Friday, 90 per cent of the city was plunged into darkness on Friday morning due to the tripping of K-E's extra-high-tension wires.

Published in The Express Tribune, January 31^st, 2016.