Karachiites irked by long hours of load-shedding

Small, medium-sized industries adversely affected due to power outages

KARACHI: Prolonged load-shedding continues in different parts of the city all night due to which people going to office, school and examination centres are facing difficulties.

Unannounced load-shedding continues not just during the day, but also at night in the Lyari, Saddar, Bizerta Lines, Kala Pul, Malir, Shah Faisal and Landhi areas. Residents of Gulistan-e-Jauhar and Gulshan-e-Iqbal are also worried about the recurrent power outages.

In different parts of the city, there is up to seven hours of announced load-shedding in addition to several hours of unannounced load-shedding. Not only are the citizens deprived of water, but those who have to go to office, school and college in the morning are also disturbed.

Industries affected

Due to prolonged load-shedding in the city, small and medium-sized industries are also being adversely affected. The industry responsible for crafting bandi from marble is one of the industries coming under increased threat due to load-shedding.



Pakistan holds a unique position in crafting marble bandi and its products are famous worldwide.

The marble bandi market is located on Mewa Shah Road near Old Golimar where vases, fountains, marble and onyx dishes and other items including statues of different animals are sculpted and sold.

There are more than 100 shops and godowns in the area, along with 20 factories. However, owing to load-shedding of up to three hours at three different times, business has reduced by almost 90%. The shopkeepers and crafters are sitting idle and it takes weeks to accomplish a day's work due to which export orders are slipping away from their hands.



A trader at the market, Ameer Baksh, said that their business is on the verge of destruction due to load-shedding, while the skilled artisans are driving rickshaws or working elsewhere to feed their children. He said that the Pakistani marble bandi craft is in high demand in China, Gulf States, Middle East, Saudi Arabia, United Arab Emirates, United States, Canada, and European countries but due to a shortage of electricity, manufacturing items for export is very difficult. He also said that the closing of the Old Golimar and Mewa Shah roads for a long time is another reason why the business has been harmed.

According to the residents of the area, K-Electric has pushed the area into darkness on the pretext of electricity theft and non-billing.