Power outages during first sehri foretell a difficult Ramazan
Power suspended to more than half of Karachi, Upper Sindh on first day of holy month
K-P facing outages despite the fact that electricity generation reached a record level of over 17,000 megawatts. PHOTO: MOHAMMAD NOMAN/EXPRESS
KARACHI/HYDERABAD:
Despite tall claims of uninterrupted power supply during sehri and iftari by utility providers, the first day of Ramazan saw more than half of Karachi plunged into darkness, leaving people infuriated.
The major power interruption, which began a few hours before sehri, was due to a 500 kilovolt extra high tension (EHT) line tripping in Jamshoro, according to K-Electric (K-E). Between 50 and 60% of the city was plunged into darkness due to the tripping. The complete normalisation of power in the city took more than six hours, after power supply from the national grid resumed.
According to the power utility, areas of the metropolis that lost power were PECHS, Shah Faisal Colony, Nazimabad, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Malir, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Korangi, Landhi and North Nazimabad and its adjoining areas.
K-E's Director of Communications Sadia Dada earlier told the Express Tribune that, "The K-E distribution system remained intact". She added that the outage was triggered due to the tripping of the 500kv Jamshoro EHT line tripping.
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"Why don't the companies come up with a permanent solution and plan so that these EHT lines do not get affected?" questioned Arif Zulfiqar, a resident of Gulshan-e-Iqbal. According to him, no early arrangements have been made to deal with such crises in the future and situations like this can occur in the system at any time.
"I, along with my children and wife, passed the first sehri in the dark," lamented Muhammad Azam, a resident of North Nazimabad. He said the power utility must provide relief to the people during the month of Ramazan by improving their services.
Ghazala Javed, a housewife and resident of Korangi raised the question of how long it would take for the government to realise that K-E is a failed enterprise. "The company should gear its efforts towards periodic maintenance in order to avoid future power breakdowns," she suggested.
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A resident of Malir Cantonment, Jaffar Baig said, "We pay surcharge to K-E for late payments of bills so why doesn't the power utility company compensate its customers rather than coming up with power failure excuses and a regretful attitude towards the people of Karachi during major power breakdowns".
No power, no water
Due to K-E's power breakdown, the port city is facing around 15 million gallons shortage of water supply.
According to a press statement issued by the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB), the Dhabeji, Gharo, Pipri, Hub and North East Karachi (NEK) pumping stations were severely affected due to the power breakdown before sehri. "The power breakdown continued for more than eight hours at different pumping stations," said KWSB Spokesperson Rizwan. He added that due to the breakdown more than 150 million gallons of water was not supplied to the city. According to him, intermittent power breakdowns are continuing at their distribution pumps within the city.
The far-flung areas of the city, according to the statement, would be affected the most. If this sudden power breakdown continues, the statement said that KWSB's installations may get affected and the water supply to the city may be halted for days.
Province-wide issue
The power outages were not limited to Karachi, as all 13 districts powered by the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) also lost power. It took Hesco over nine hours to restore power to residents' homes. Power supply was cut a few hours before sehri.
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The cause of the electricity supply disruption was the tripping of the 500KV transmission line in Jamshoro.
According to Hesco's spokesperson, electric supply was suspended to 76 out of 80 grid stations. Although the company claimed that power supply restoration began by early Sunday morning, residents of many districts complained that the power supply was not restored by 11am.
"Hesco provided an emergency complaint number for Ramazan but no one responded on that number on the very first day," lamented Shiraz Ali, a resident of Latifabad. Similar complaints surfaced from residents of other areas as well.
The residents of Jamshoro, Mirpurkhas, Matiari, Sanghar and other districts claimed that the restoration took over 10 hours. Hesco is holding the National Transmission and Dispatch Company responsible for the situation.
The chief minister has written to the federal minister for water and power and expressed his apprehensions about the situation. “This is a very serious situation, especially when temperatures are very high in most parts of Sindh,” he said.
Despite tall claims of uninterrupted power supply during sehri and iftari by utility providers, the first day of Ramazan saw more than half of Karachi plunged into darkness, leaving people infuriated.
The major power interruption, which began a few hours before sehri, was due to a 500 kilovolt extra high tension (EHT) line tripping in Jamshoro, according to K-Electric (K-E). Between 50 and 60% of the city was plunged into darkness due to the tripping. The complete normalisation of power in the city took more than six hours, after power supply from the national grid resumed.
According to the power utility, areas of the metropolis that lost power were PECHS, Shah Faisal Colony, Nazimabad, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Malir, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Korangi, Landhi and North Nazimabad and its adjoining areas.
K-E's Director of Communications Sadia Dada earlier told the Express Tribune that, "The K-E distribution system remained intact". She added that the outage was triggered due to the tripping of the 500kv Jamshoro EHT line tripping.
PTI Karachi leader among 11 held for protesting against K-Electric
"Why don't the companies come up with a permanent solution and plan so that these EHT lines do not get affected?" questioned Arif Zulfiqar, a resident of Gulshan-e-Iqbal. According to him, no early arrangements have been made to deal with such crises in the future and situations like this can occur in the system at any time.
"I, along with my children and wife, passed the first sehri in the dark," lamented Muhammad Azam, a resident of North Nazimabad. He said the power utility must provide relief to the people during the month of Ramazan by improving their services.
Ghazala Javed, a housewife and resident of Korangi raised the question of how long it would take for the government to realise that K-E is a failed enterprise. "The company should gear its efforts towards periodic maintenance in order to avoid future power breakdowns," she suggested.
PM bristles at longer electricity cuts
A resident of Malir Cantonment, Jaffar Baig said, "We pay surcharge to K-E for late payments of bills so why doesn't the power utility company compensate its customers rather than coming up with power failure excuses and a regretful attitude towards the people of Karachi during major power breakdowns".
No power, no water
Due to K-E's power breakdown, the port city is facing around 15 million gallons shortage of water supply.
According to a press statement issued by the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB), the Dhabeji, Gharo, Pipri, Hub and North East Karachi (NEK) pumping stations were severely affected due to the power breakdown before sehri. "The power breakdown continued for more than eight hours at different pumping stations," said KWSB Spokesperson Rizwan. He added that due to the breakdown more than 150 million gallons of water was not supplied to the city. According to him, intermittent power breakdowns are continuing at their distribution pumps within the city.
The far-flung areas of the city, according to the statement, would be affected the most. If this sudden power breakdown continues, the statement said that KWSB's installations may get affected and the water supply to the city may be halted for days.
Province-wide issue
The power outages were not limited to Karachi, as all 13 districts powered by the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) also lost power. It took Hesco over nine hours to restore power to residents' homes. Power supply was cut a few hours before sehri.
After much sweat and tears, K-Electric says Bin Qasim power plant unit working again
The cause of the electricity supply disruption was the tripping of the 500KV transmission line in Jamshoro.
According to Hesco's spokesperson, electric supply was suspended to 76 out of 80 grid stations. Although the company claimed that power supply restoration began by early Sunday morning, residents of many districts complained that the power supply was not restored by 11am.
"Hesco provided an emergency complaint number for Ramazan but no one responded on that number on the very first day," lamented Shiraz Ali, a resident of Latifabad. Similar complaints surfaced from residents of other areas as well.
The residents of Jamshoro, Mirpurkhas, Matiari, Sanghar and other districts claimed that the restoration took over 10 hours. Hesco is holding the National Transmission and Dispatch Company responsible for the situation.
The chief minister has written to the federal minister for water and power and expressed his apprehensions about the situation. “This is a very serious situation, especially when temperatures are very high in most parts of Sindh,” he said.