Power surge hits DHA

KARACHI: Residents of Defence Housing Authority (DHA) experienced electric shocks early Saturday morning when a short-term power breakdown led to a 440-volt surge that burnt out electrical items.

“It was six in the morning when we heard explosions in our house and smelt smoke from various rooms,” said Fahad, a resident of Street 30, off Khayaban-i-Shamsheer, Phase V (ext). “First we thought the house had caught fire due to a short circuit but later we found out it was the result of high voltage.” Several appliances - the Intercom, cordless phones, fans, a few energy savers and adopters - were damaged. According to another resident on the same street they heard several loud bangs. “My immediate reaction was that there had been gunshots,” said the resident. “But upon inspection, I realised that several of our light savers and spotlights had burst.” This family’s split AC started giving off sparks before its circuit blew. Two other split ACs were damaged as was the DVD player, a TV and internet modem. “We haven’t been able to sleep after that since the voltage fluctuations continues,” he said. Calls to the KESC helpline didn’t help. The customer services representative pretended that they were not aware of any such complaints. “However, we asked our neighbors and they had the same problem,” he said, putting the losses at Rs100,000.

When The Express Tribune contacted a KESC spokesperson, they said that there were flaws in the system. “There are issues with distribution as there has been no investment for the last 15 years,” said Aamir Abbasi. “Power was being supplied by the same old PMT wires. We are in the process of revamping the cables. And 200 new feeders were placed for proper and effective distribution.” He said there has been a 25 per cent cut in breakdowns compared to last year.

Published in The Express Tribune, July 4^th, 2010.