Karachi blackouts
Never-ending electricity blackouts in Karachi have been tormenting its citizens and leaving them foaming at the mouth. This latest spell of prolonged power outages in this hive of industry is blamed on low gas supply by the power utility — a reason most citizens see as a lame excuse. The disruption has badly crippled industrial output.
K-Electric, the sole power production, transmission and distribution company responsible for supplying power across the city of ports and other parts of Sindh and Balochistan, failed to meet the energy needs as it cited low gas pressure as reason for the outages. It has held the SSGC responsible for the power crisis, saying the firm is not providing the agreed quantity of gas. The SSGC, on its part, says they have already informed K-Electric regarding low supplies in advance and advised it to adopt alternative solutions like running power plants on coal, furnace oil and/or diesel.
In the blame-game between the two utility firms, industrial, commercial and residential consumers are paying a high cost and losing businesses to the regional and global competitors. “Gas shortage in Karachi is directly due to government of Sindh not giving Right of Way for a new SSGC line. [We] have been after Sindh government since the last 1.5 years but they have not budged. We are already giving 100 mmcfd RLNG to K-Electric and need the new line for additional supply,” Federal Minister for Power, Petroleum & Natural Resources Omar Ayub Khan said on his Twitter handle.
On the other hand, a K-Electric spokesperson, in a video message, said, “The low supplies of gas have impacted power production and supplies to our consumers” and “we are constantly in contact with the SSGC management to overcome the issue.” The SSGC spokesperson said despite facing low supplies from fields, the SSGC is supplying 170-180 mmcfd to K-Electric against its demand for 220-230 mmcfd.
This tiff between the two companies has been a source of great agony to the citizens of Karachi.
Published in The Express Tribune, Septe0mber 28th, 2020.
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