KARACHI, Aug 17: The Karachi Electric Supply Corporation’s distribution system was hit by the heavy rain that began early Thursday morning and continued into the night, and as a result various localities remained without electricity supply for hours on end.

People in various areas complained that power supply to their localities stayed disrupted as it rained.

They complained that the centralized complaint telephone number, 118, was not responding and local area complaint numbers were also engaged, or there was nobody to attend telephone. Some people complained that power supply was disconnected to their areas well before the rain started and it was not restored till late in the night.

The spell of heavy rain in the evening disturbed city life besides affecting power supply to many localities. Cable repairs could not be carried out in most of the areas due to accumulation of rainwater.

A KESC spokesman said the power distribution system worked properly but cable faults in some localities caused power failures. He said teams were sent to repair faults in the affected areas and work was being carried out. He said the repair work in a few localities might be delayed due to accumulated rainwater. He said as dust in isolators had been washed away by rains in the previous days and the Thursday evening rain could not cause tripping of the system.

However, a resident of Block H in North Nazimabad said that the power supply was disrupted in the evening and could not be restored till late night. Another resident in the same vicinity said that power supply played hide-and-seek all the day and it remained on during heavy rain. He said power supply was again disrupted as soon as the rain stopped and could not be restored till late night.

A consumer in Block-A North Nazimabad said that power supply was discontinued at around 4pm and could not be restored till late night. He said he made frantic calls at the centralized complaint number `118’, but to no avail . “Once I managed to speak to the operator and he said that a wire had snapped and the staff would repair it after the rain stopped. However, the rain has stopped for two hours and power supply is still off.”

A resident of Federal B Area’s Block 17 said that power supply was suspended at around 6:30pm and could not be restored till late night.

An irate consumer from Shabbirabad on Tipu Sultan Road said residents of the locality could not sleep the previous night as the power supply could be restored in the morning. It again went off at around 11am and did not come back till late Thursday night.

Residents of Dastagir Society’s Block-9, and Block-20 of Federal B Area, Parsi Colony in Soldier Bazaar, Civic View Apartments in Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Shadman Town’s Block-14/A, and Kharadar behind Merewether Tower said that their localities faced prolonged power failures and KESC officials did not respond to their complaints. They said the intermittent and prolonged power breakdowns badly affected their lives, and the worst hit were the ailing and children.

Angry electricity consumers complained that despite the prolonged and frequent power failures the bill amounts remained high.

Residents from Korangi Crossing, Altaf Town, Allahwalla Town and Darussalam Housing Society said that power supply went out for at last thrice since early morning. “Initially, it sustained the thrust of the thunderstorm, but after the rain had subsided it went off,” said a resident of the society.