Power outages: Light rain plays tricks with KESC’s equipment

Company insists its system is not to blame.

KARACHI: Parts of Garden, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, PECHS, West Wharf, Clifton, and the Defence Housing Society suffered from power outages from Sunday night onwards as rain wreaked havoc on pole-mounted transformers and extra high-tension wires in those areas. A 132 kilovolt transmission line also tripped, exacerbating the situation.

“As the technical faults were localised and spread out throughout the city, it us took some time to repair them,” said Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) spokesperson Aminur Rahman, before adding that power had been restored to most areas by Sunday afternoon.

While the city experienced only light rainfall, Rahman explained that it caused the dirt that had built up on wires and other electrical equipment to turn into sludge, which interfered with electricity transmission. “We wouldn’t have had this issue if the rain had fallen hard, because the sludge would just have been washed off.” KESC clarified that its technical staff had to use cranes to reach and clean high tension transformers in areas like Gulistan-e-Jauhar, which contributed to prolonged outages. He added that KESC’s electrical equipment was in fine working order.

Rahman added that the power utility could not control “extraneous environmental factors” like the intensity of the rain.

Published in The Express Tribune, August 27^th, 2012.