Load-shedding and Karachi

Karachi and power load-shedding seem inseparable. This link has been intact for the last forty years — yes, load-shedding in the metropolis is an early 80s phenomenon — and does not look like going away anytime soon. The Karachi Electric Supply Corporation became K-Electric over the years, but it turned out to be a mere change of name. There is hardly any change in its performance and efficiency. The power infrastructure remains so vulnerable that it cannot even withstand a very small amount of rain and a little bit more power load. The company that was only restricted to supplying power is now allowed to produce it too, but the shortfall persists. Despite all this the power bills continue to inflate.

The citizens of Karachi, thus, continue to suffer. For domestic consumers, it may only mean personal suffering in the form of restless days and insomniac nights. But for commercial and industrial consumers, it means loss of business — something that also results in fall in government revenues. If not for the sake of poor consumers, the federal government should have taken a proper action for the sake of its own revenues and fixed the issues long back. Prime Minister Imran Khan has, thankfully, swung into action. He has mobilised his best aides — Federal Minister for Planning and Development Asad Umar, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail and Special Assistant Shahzad Qasim — to address the issue of loadshedding in Karachi and provide relief to its citizens who are simultaneously suffering from rising temperatures and the coronavirus lockdowns.

On Saturday, the trio met the K-Electric management as well as others including the representatives of Nepra, the business community and the citizens. The all-inclusive huddle ended with a piece of good news for Karachiites — that K-Electric will be supplied with additional amounts of power, gas and furnace oil, and load-shedding will, therefore, come to an end forthwith. While this announcement from Asad Umar is welcome, his government is also required to focus on other serious issues — such as the weak infrastructure and higher transmission and distribution losses — which hinder uninterrupted power supply to a city which is the economic engine of the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 13^th, 2020.

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