Karachi flounders in rain’s aftermath

KE claims 90% of feeders have been restored; citizens complain of outages lasting over 60 hours


Our Correspondent August 30, 2020
The barely-there drainage of the metropolis gets overwhelmed during heavy rain spells and inundates low-lying areas and roads. PHOTO: EXPRESS

KARACHI:

Three days on, the metropolis and its residents continued to struggle as several houses, roads and some underpasses remained submerged and unrelenting power outages in many localities left them in the dark and off the grid for over 60 hours and counting.

The localities witnessing electricity suspension even on Saturday included Defence Housing Authority, Clifton, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, PECHS, Safoora Goth, Keamari, Shireen Jinnah Colony, Jackson Market, Mehmoodabad, Akhtar Colony, Junejo Town, Surjani Town, Lines Area and others, with residents complaining their calls to K-Electric were going ignored.

On the other hand, KE claimed that over 90 per cent of its feeders in the city had been powered up, adding that rainwater had entered over half its substations during Thursday’s record-breaking rainfall. A spokesperson further said that the restoration of power had been impeded in some areas of DHA, Saddar, Clifton and Orangi Town because of the flooded substations.

As if this was not enough, many citizens were left without water in their homes, unable to get the usual water supply in the absence of electricity and faced with water tanker suppliers refusing to supply them with water because of the state of the roads. Plus, several citizens added, the water stored in their underground tanks was no longer usable after rainwater and sewage seeped into them.

What’s more, petrol stations across the city ran dry as people queued up to get fuel, both for their vehicles and for the generators at their homes, amid the electricity suspension. The supply was further disrupted by the flooded roads making it difficult for tankers to get through, as well as the possibility of fuel tanks at the petrol stations being contaminated as the residential water tanks had been.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 30th, 2020.

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