KARACHI, April 5: The power-generating unit in Bin Qasim, which was closed down after its boiler had leaked on Tuesday, was repaired and made operative on Wednesday abandoning power loadshedding in various localities, KESC spokesman said.
However, consumers angrily made several calls to the newspapers office and complained about prolonged power failures in their respective areas.
The spokesman for the power utility said that power generating unit was made functional at around 4pm. The power loadshedding was abandoned after the major unit started generating 200 megawatts power. The Korangi Thermal Unit, which generates 25megawatts power, was still under repair, he said.
“The demand of power on Wednesday evening was 2,038MW and the KESC is meeting the requirement. We do not further need to carry out loadshedding,” he added.
About the prolong power failure in Block-17, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, he said that the power went around 11am and it came back about 4pm, as the officials of the power utility were engaged in maintenance work of a grid station.
A consumer from Gulistan-i-Jauhar Block-18 said that the power supply remained discontinued in his locality from 1.45pm to 3pm.
A resident of Malir Extension in Saudia Colony said that the power supply was suspended for two hours between 10am and 12pm. He said that the power loadshedding had become routine.
A consumer from FB Area’s Block-13 said that the locality was without electricity from 11am to 2pm. Another breakdown took place soon after the power supply was restored and it did not come back till late night, he added.
In Block-14 of F.B. Area, the power was shut down at around 3pm and it was not restored till late night. An area resident said that one phase of power supply had gone out of order and a KESC’s van reached there to rectify it but the officials went away without repairing it. Since then, the residents had been complaining with the power utility but to no avail.
A consumer from Block-H of North Nazimabad said power was off for two hours from noon. A citizen from Block-L in the same vicinity said that the electricity supply was suspended at around 11.30am and at the same time water in the overhead tank ended. The occupants of the house remained without water and power for at least three hours.
In Gulshan-i-Iqbal’s Block-16, power supply remained suspended from 11am to 1pm. An area resident said that KESC carried out phase-wise loadshedding in several residential complexes of the locality.
A resident from Metroville III, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, said that the power failures had become routine because of the sale of the power utility to one private entrepreneur and now the new owner had established its monopoly and the situation might further deteriorates. He was of the view that the distribution, transmission, and power generation systems should have been sold out separately to various private owners so that nobody could establish monopoly.
