Blackout loadshedding load shedding PHOTO: AFP
Brandishing placards with slogans such as 'Karachi kay sath na insafi bardasht nahi' ('We will not tolerate Injustice with Karachi'), the protesters said KE was infuriating citizens by carrying out load-shedding up to 12 to 15 hours in a day.
Fixit Karachi president Sadaqat Ahmed warned of escalating the protests by putting locks on the gates of KE offices around the city if the problem was not resolved soon.
"KE is pretending to face a furnace oil shortage but there are power outages in the city despite markets being closed due to the lockdown," he pointed out, asking how citizens were expected to stay at home to prevent the spread of coronavirus in such a situation.
He complained that National Electric Power Regulatory Authority was limited to issuing notices, claiming it had formed an alliance with KE against which even the prime minister was helpless.
Meanwhile, Pakistan Tehreek-e-Insaf (PTI) Karachi president and MPA Khurram Sher Zaman said the power utility has made the lives of Karachiites miserable, transforming the city of lights into a city of darkness.
He reiterated that KE was lying about the shortage of furnace oil, with the relevant companies refuting this, while adding that political appointments in the power company had worsened matters.
The MPA added that patients in quarantine could not bear power cuts and water shortages in the sweltering weather.
PTI Karachi general secretary Dr Saeed Afridi, too, maintained that KE was playing with the lives of Covid-19 patients in home isolation, warning that PTI would launch a protest if the matter was not resolved within two days.
With additional information from APP
Published in The Express Tribune, June 28th, 2020.
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