Shedding load: Power outages in the city to last 13 hours

KESC claims it resorted to load-shedding since govt has not ‘cleared’ dues.

KARACHI:

The city will face up to 13 hours of load-shedding as the electricity utility insists it faces a shortage of funds.

The Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) has announced that by increasing the duration of load-shedding from 10 to 13 hours, it aims to build pressure on the government to release outstanding payments.

According to KESC public relations officer Adil Murtaza, nothing has been done in the 85 billion circular debt for the power utility, therefore, the KESC is facing a shortage of funds to buy furnace oil for meeting power demands.

The new schedule of the outages will be applied to residential, commercial and industrial areas. “The load-shedding duration will vary for different areas. Areas with less losses and thefts will be subjected to relatively smaller durations of load-shedding,” added Murtaza.

KESC has appealed to its customers to remain calm and peaceful as the utility will continue its efforts to get the due payments from the government and normalise the power situation across all segments of consumers.

Residents’ reaction

“Life is completely disturbed in Karachi,” said Faiza Hussain from Lyari. “When you are out, it is the law and order situation that upsets you, and when you are at home, the load-shedding bothers you. It is a situation one has to struggle with daily.”

Muhammad Naeem, a resident of Zamzama called it a “pathetic effort” on the part of the KESC to pressurise the federal government. “It is totally unjust that you put the burden of your failures on consumers. The KESC should control power thefts and line losses to overcome the shortfall instead of begging for debts from the government,” said Naeem.

“The term, load-shedding, is only known to Pakistanis,” pointed out Haroon Ahmed, a resident of Clifton Block-2, who owns a car showroom. “I can’t understand why the KESC was privatised when like other institutions it needs money from the government.”

A marble shop owner in Keamari, Abdul Majid said: “We were not in favour of its privatisation when it was privatised in Musharraf’s regime and we still think that it was working better when it was under the government. Its privatisation has increased the miseries of people in Karachi.”

Published in The Express Tribune, August 17^th, 2013.