‘Powerless’

Citizens spend the night in darkness as Karachi faces major power breakdown after a light shower

KARACHI: Intermittent spells of sparse rain resulted in a major power breakdown, impacting more than half of Karachi, late Monday night. The darkness, which was cast over the city at around 10pm continued long into the morning next day.

As Asma Khan, a resident of Gulshan-e-Iqbal, forced herself to stay awake on Tuesday morning, after spending a sleepless night due to power suspension, pleasant weather following the rain could do little to allay her problems.

"After power suspension last night, electricity would only be restored for intermittent spells lasting no more than 15 minutes until it would be suspended again," she said. "This kept my entire family awake at night, and in the morning my children had to skip school," she added.



Where many troubled residents found it hard to start afresh in the morning after a sleeplessness night, some relayed their misfortune in the garb of humour and sarcasm.

"Would squirting water with my [toy] water gun on electricity wires suffice to cause a power breakdown in the entire city?" one of the citizens', Mujahid Waheed, asked on Twitter, addressing K-Electric (KE). He complained that it hadn't even rained properly and already the residents were facing power suspension extending over 12 hours.

Waheed's jibe at the frequency of power suspension, particularly during summer and rainy season, receives backing from the data revealed by the Pakistan Meteorological Department [PMD]. According to the PMD, on average, only 0.5mm of rain was recorded in the city, except for in North Nazimabad, where rainfall was recorded at 1.2mm. Apparently, this scant amount of rain was enough to disrupt the power supply to most of the city.

Apart from sparking humour, the situation also made many wonder about the capability of KE.

Sundar Waqar, a resident of Defence Housing Authority, tweeted that only a few drops [of rain] resulted in electricity supply remaining suspended for the entire night, which is a big question mark on the KE's performance.

However, some had better luck than Waqar, who did get electricity, if only for short transient periods.

According to Asghar, who resides in North Nazimabad, power supply to his house was suspended as soon as it started to rain. The supply was restored at around 2am but the entire locality again plunged into darkness after a few minutes. Electricity supply to Asghar's house was finally restored at 9am on Tuesday morning before it was suspended again just an hour later.

When Asghar called the KE helpline 118, he was informed that a two-hour-long power cut was being carried out in his area after every hour for load management.

Similarly, Irshad, who lives near Korangi Crossing, estimated that electricity was supplied for only about two hours to his residence, between Monday night and Tuesday morning, after it was suspended following light rain. But he could do little to improve the situation and spent the night battling mosquitoes and heat.

However, these are only a few examples of how Karachiites have learned to deal with the routine of power suspension on the onset of rain. They lambast, criticise and question KE on social media, they call the KE helpline only for their complaints and queries to fall on deaf ears or they continue with their lives hampered by the non-availability of electricity. And yet, they are unable to find a way out of the quagmire that defines the city's electricity issue.

The havoc

Meanwhile, sources in KE revealed that hundreds of the power utility's feeders tripped as a consequence of the rain. Water flooded the sub-stations, electricity wires were ruptured and jumpers became loose. Amid all this, only a limited number of maintenance teams were holding the fort for KE, which proved insufficient to tend to numerous faults and complaints.

According to the sources in KE, the power utility hadn't arranged for additional teams despite the PMD's forecast of rain.

Additionally, supply of about 100 megawatts of electricity, from the private power house of Nooriabad Power Company, to KE was also suspended at around 12am on Tuesday, due to a technical fault.

Following this, KE administration decided to conduct load-shedding in the city. Consequently, areas that have been exempted from load-shedding also suffered two or more hours of power suspension. Meanwhile, in other areas of the city, load-shedding exceeded three hours.

According to the KE's spokesperson, the power transmission was also affected because some circuits of National Transmission Dispatch Company were not functional due to maintenance work.

KE has kept the generation of electricity through furnace oil limited, in order to cut down on expenses, revealed a retired employee of the KE. Instead of utilising all its resources to meet the electricity demand, following the havoc created by rain, the power utility opted to carry out long hours of load-shedding, he said.



Areas that were most affected by power breakdown included DHA, Clifton, Mehmoodabad, Akhtar Colony, Civil Lines, Korangi, Landhi, Quidabad, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulzar Hijri, Kemari, North Karachi, North Nazimabad, Nazimabad, Liquatabad, Orangi Town, Banaras, Lines Area, Malir and Shah Faisal Colony.

Restoration

Spokesperson of the KE claimed that electricity supply in most of the city was restored swiftly, by Tuesday morning. However, power supply from SNPC was resumed by midday, he added.

According to the KE representative, KE teams remained fully alert following the shower spell and responded swiftly to ensure the restoration of electricity supply to the affected areas. He claimed that power supply to strategic installations, including important hospitals and the airport, remained unaffected throughout.

He expressed regret over the inconvenience caused to the residents of Karachi.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 24^th, 2019.