KARACHI: Karachiites’ agony I extreme high mercury has increased manifold at the hands of the Karachi’s sole power distribution company, the Karachi Electric.
This increase in consumers’ agony is owing to suffocation, which emerges from prolonged suspension of supply of electricity and thus it slashes them in residential units particularly in densely populated narrow apartments.
The suspension of power supply to KE’s consumers is so frequent that the consumers avail an hour of electricity with a break of 2 to 3 hours in areas which KE claims are categorised as high line losses areas but the situation is not different in even posh areas where the line losses are very low and the recovery of money against electricity is excellent such as Gulshan-e Iqbal, North Nazimaabad, Federal B Area, North Karachi, Tariq Road, Bahadurabad, etc.;
A well informed KE’s retired officer on condition of anonymity told this scribe that the KE depending solely on natural gas to produce power and is avoiding running its power plants at their installed capacity that is approximately 3100 megawatts. The KE has stopped using the furnace oil because the furnace oil does not affect the basic tariff while using gas as basic fuel pushes the profit rate to skies as it is cheap.
He said that since the KE is being run by businessmen so they always look for higher profits. The installed capacity of KE is 3100 megawatts approximately but the company is running its plants at a limit of producing just 1400 megawatts approximately and is deriving at least 600 megawatts from the National Grid.
While speaking to the scribe, KESC Labour Union Senior Vice President Usman Balouch said that Karachi’s demand for power is approximately 2600 megawatts and the KE’s installed capacity is approximately 3100 megawatts and thus the company could easily manage the continued supply of electricity to its consumers.
When contacted KE PRO Ms. Sadia dada for comments, she could not be reached as her cell phone was switched off.
Balouch as claimed that the independent power producers (IPP) have stopped selling electricity to KE over billing issues.
Whatever are reasons and causes of interruption in power supply, the end result is that the electricity consumers in Karachi living a live as in hell and sadly no authority has stepped forward to rescue them. The governments had claimed that there would be no power outages in the holy month of Ramadan and those commitments proved as castles of sands as ever. The fasting majority of Muslims in their own Islamic republic of Pakistan are breaking their fasts in candle light.
The situation is very cruel in city particularly in Korangi, Landhi, Nazimaabad, Liaquatabad, New Karachi, Old City Areas such as Lyari, Kharadaar, Mithadaar, Burns Road, Karimabad, North Karachi, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Saddaar, Rizvia Society, Orangi Town, Federal B Area, Gulberg, Ancholi and other parts of Karachi. – NNI