Anger and loathing as power outages disrupt people's lives in Karachi

KE cites increased demand, shortage of furnace oil as reasons for 'load management'

KARACHI: With the mercury consecutively touching almost 40 degrees Celsius in Karachi since the past few days, the city's residents found themselves in added misery as over 12-hours long unannounced power outages continued unabated.

Among areas most affected in the port city were Baldia Town, Lyari, Aurangzeb Town, Korangi, Landhi, Surjani Town, PIB Colony, Malir and Shah Faisal Colony.

The city's power utility, Karachi Electric (KE), admitted to carrying out power outages in all areas, regardless of whether they're exempted from the load shedding schedule.

Citing reasons for power outages, KE observed that shortage of furnace oil resulted in a shortfall in electricity production, and has compelled the company to rely on cheap electricity.

Owing to an increased demand of electricity in the city, systems have been badly affected, the power utility maintained. Technical faults including tripping of electricity feeders have become regular occurrences.

The power utility, late on Wednesday night, wrote on twitter that violent mobs had damaged their grid station and offices. "This endangers our teams and makes our job more difficult," the tweet read, calling for citizens to bear with them.

Violent mobs have caused damage to grid station and offices - this endangers our teams and makes our job more difficult. We are working 24/7 to supply maximum power despite ongoing fuel shortage. Please bear with us at this challenging time.#MobViolence #GridDamage #HumAapHain

— KE (@KElectricPk) June 24, 2020

'Load Management'

In another tweet, KE posted a statement citing reasons for having to 'manage the load'.

"With the onset of extreme hot and humid weather in Karachi, our peak demand has crossed 3450 MW. Furnace oil is not available in the market to the level required resulting in up to 800 mt shortfalls daily. This has been in the news and the Government is taking action by allowing imports," read the statement.

Reasons for Load Management. pic.twitter.com/DlrWI9Wnns

— KE (@KElectricPk) June 25, 2020

Demonstrations

Unconvinced by KE’s reasons, disgruntled citizens staged demonstrations in various areas against hours long load shedding and water shortage on Wednesday.

Residents staged a sit-in near Ghareebabad Chowrangi, blocked the road and chanted slogans against KE and the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB).

They accused the companies of deliberately suspending power supply to rile up citizens and use it as an excuse to get further fuel concessions from the government.

Demanding an end to unannounced load shedding, they lamented that those in power did not realise their predicament. “They drink mineral water and have generators at home. How can they realise KE and KWSB have made our lives miserable?” stated a protester.

Meanwhile, residents of Gulshan-e-Zahoor and Abyssinia Lines held a demonstration outside KE’s office on Sharea Faisal and even attempted to break into the office.

The irked protesters warned of carrying out a sit-in at Sharae Quaideen and blocking the thoroughfare if KE officials did not address their grievances.

They later followed up with their claim and staged a sit-in, barricading the road as queues of vehicles crammed it.

The people complained that they were having to put up with unannounced load shedding of up to 16 hours, that too at odd hours. They further claimed that patients who were suffering from Covid-19 and were in home isolation have been further troubled by this.

Lamenting the situation, the protesters questioned how they were supposed to follow the government's orders to stay home while KE was forcing them to step out, putting them at the risk of contracting the virus.

The police tried to convince the protesters to disperse, but they remained adamant that they would only do so if KE officials negotiated with them and fulfilled their demands.