72 hours of power outage, 4 hours of vandalism

KARACHI: Hundreds of people took to the roads in Sohrab Goth to protest against the alleged 72 hours of power outages in the light rain that failed to control rising tempers.

Roads leading from Sohrab Goth to Water Pump, Super Highway and Saddar remained blocked for around four hours with hundreds of vehicles stuck in the traffic jam.

The protest started out peacefully but turned violent when people started pelting stones at passing vehicles. The protester-turned-rioters burnt tyres and also torched motorcycles. Along with people shouting slogans against the government and the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) were robbers who used the opportunity to loot people.

At least 16 people, who were sitting in cars and buses stuck in the traffic, lost their mobile phones, money and jewellery to suspects who appeared suddenly and vanished just as quietly in the chaos of the protest, said police.

DSP Sohrab Goth Irfan Bahadur said that they received reports of robberies during the protest but according to him, most of the cases happened in the jurisdiction of the Sachal Police Station.

“The 76-hour long power outage caused the protest,” he said, adding that the police were trying to bring the situation under control.

Some members of the provincial assembly travelling from interior Sindh also got stuck in the traffic jam on the highway. They were coming to attend a meeting with the prime minister at the Chief Minister House.

Protesters demanded that power supply should be restored immediately in their area.

“It is difficult for us to live there anymore,” said a resident, Muhammad Ismail, “We don’t even have drinking water.” According to him, they had complained to the KESC but the company had not taken any action to appease them. “We had no other option but to protest,” he added.

A heavy contingent of police and Rangers tried to disperse the rioters. The police managed to gain some control of the situation by aerial-firing and tear-gas shelling however, traffic remained blocked in some parts of the city till after 8 pm.

Meanwhile, people at Liaquatabad, Banaras and other areas also protested against the unscheduled electricity shutdowns. KESC spokesperson Amir Abbasi said that there were some faults at the Hadiabad station. According to him, some of the KESC repairmen had also been beaten up by the protesters in the area.

“We face problems in the area because electricity theft is rampant there, recovery of billing is only 50 percent,” he said.

Abbasi also claimed that some rioters had attacked the KESC office in the area on Saturday and had burnt three vehicles. Scared for their lives, the KESC officials had told police that they must be provided with foolproof security otherwise they would not start work there. However, the electricity was finally restored around 9 pm on Sunday

Published in The Express Tribune, July 12^th, 2010.