Power woes: No load-shedding on Eid, promises K-Electric
Residents continue to protest unannounced power breakdowns in different areas
PHOTO: AFP
KARACHI:
With Eidul Fitr around the corner, power breakdowns continue to haunt the residents of Karachi.
The K-Electric has announced that it will exempt the metropolis from load shedding during Eid-ul-Fitr. "This exemption will commence on Saturday morning and will last till Wednesday morning," said KE spokesperson Usama Qureshi.
He apologised for the inconvenience caused to consumers during the few days of Ramazan and said they were doing their best to ensure such faults did not recur. Qureshi warned, however, that with the imminent monsoon season, there were chances of faults developing in loss-incurred areas, for which the Rapid Response Teams had been readied and which will be operating in shifts to tackle any issue.
For this purpose, four regional control centres have been set up across the city. "Consumers are requested to register their complaints on 118, the KE SMS service 8119 or the utility's digital media platforms," he said.
Plunged into darkness
At around 9pm on Wednesday night, the Baloch Para near Teen Hatti plunged into darkness. The power breakdown also caused a disruption in the water supply to the area later.
On Thursday morning, 12 hours after the lights had gone out, the residents blocked the road at Teen Hatti leading to Gurumandir, causing a severe traffic jam in the area. According to one of the protesters, Fahad, they had waited a good 12 hours before taking to the streets. "There is no electricity in the area for the last 12 hours," he said. "God knows what will happen during Eid, if the K-Electric continue to behave this way."
Meanwhile, the KE spokesperson told The Express Tribune that there was underground cable fault in the area, which took around 12 hours to repair. "Cable faults can occur anywhere, at any time," he said, adding that over 50 per cent of the connections in Teen Hatti were illegal, which was the main cause of the power breakdown in the area.
According to him, it took time to determine the fault in the underground cable. The impatient residents, on the other hand, took illegal connections from remote areas, where there was no power outage, plunging even those areas into darkness, he claimed.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 17th, 2015.
With Eidul Fitr around the corner, power breakdowns continue to haunt the residents of Karachi.
The K-Electric has announced that it will exempt the metropolis from load shedding during Eid-ul-Fitr. "This exemption will commence on Saturday morning and will last till Wednesday morning," said KE spokesperson Usama Qureshi.
He apologised for the inconvenience caused to consumers during the few days of Ramazan and said they were doing their best to ensure such faults did not recur. Qureshi warned, however, that with the imminent monsoon season, there were chances of faults developing in loss-incurred areas, for which the Rapid Response Teams had been readied and which will be operating in shifts to tackle any issue.
For this purpose, four regional control centres have been set up across the city. "Consumers are requested to register their complaints on 118, the KE SMS service 8119 or the utility's digital media platforms," he said.
Plunged into darkness
At around 9pm on Wednesday night, the Baloch Para near Teen Hatti plunged into darkness. The power breakdown also caused a disruption in the water supply to the area later.
On Thursday morning, 12 hours after the lights had gone out, the residents blocked the road at Teen Hatti leading to Gurumandir, causing a severe traffic jam in the area. According to one of the protesters, Fahad, they had waited a good 12 hours before taking to the streets. "There is no electricity in the area for the last 12 hours," he said. "God knows what will happen during Eid, if the K-Electric continue to behave this way."
Meanwhile, the KE spokesperson told The Express Tribune that there was underground cable fault in the area, which took around 12 hours to repair. "Cable faults can occur anywhere, at any time," he said, adding that over 50 per cent of the connections in Teen Hatti were illegal, which was the main cause of the power breakdown in the area.
According to him, it took time to determine the fault in the underground cable. The impatient residents, on the other hand, took illegal connections from remote areas, where there was no power outage, plunging even those areas into darkness, he claimed.
Published in The Express Tribune, July 17th, 2015.