KARACHI: Sindh Chief Minister Syed Qaim Ali Shah has directed the K-Electric authorities to take emergent and drastic measures to provide smooth power supply to the city. “Though the on-going heatwave during the holy month of Ramazan is a natural calamity, it has claimed a lot of lives. We have to perform and you (KE) have to perform, we cannot absolve ourselves from our responsibilities,” he said while presiding over a meeting held to resolve the power crisis in the city.

The meeting was attended by provincial ministers Syed Murad Ali Shah, Sharjeel Memon, Jam Mehtab Dahar, Chief Secretary Siddiq Memon, Commissioner of Karachi Shoaib Siddiqi, Energy Secretary Agha Wasif, Secretary of Health Saeed Mangnijo, Managing Director of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board Hashim Raza Zaidi and PDMA Director Nazar Mohammmad Bozdar. KE was represented by its CEO Tayab, Chief of Staff Usama Qureshi, deputy chief of distribution Qazi Tameez Ahmed and a Sui Southern Gas Company representative.

The chief minister said: “We are responsible to the people of the province. People are dying and everyone is blaming K-Electric for its failure to cope with the situation,” he said. “The provincial government is ready to extend support to K-Electric, whatever it needs, but you (KE) have to be responsive.”

The KE CEO said that after 1979 it was an unprecedented high temperature plus humidity, which had caused serious problems. “At present, there is a demand for 3,100MW in the city and we have the capacity to meet the need,” he said and added that the problem aggravated when people started attacking complaint centres and manhandling KE workers who arrived to fix faults. Therefore, fixing of the faults got delayed and the situation went from bad to worse.”

He further said that due to low pressure of gas KE had to shut down two of its power plants located at SITE and Korangi. “With their start about 200MW power would be generated and it would help the company reduce the ongoing loadshedding further,” he said.

It was also pointed out that the gas provided to the power plants in Kotri and Jamshoro was causing low gas pressure, for which the federal government was urged to take necessary action.

The KE chief told the meeting that their 70 per cent high-tension cables were laid underground. They heat up with the rise in temperature. This also causes tripping of the feeders. “We (KE) have 1,450 feeders in the city, of them 25 have tripped today.”

Finance and Energy Minister Syed Murad Ali Shah said KE should have pre-empted the situation and had invested in its distribution system. “You are getting good profit from this city and you have to pay the city back,” he said.

He added that the Sindh government had paid KE Rs120 million for the change of the old cable of the Dhabeji pumping stations, but that work had not been started so far.

Local Government Minister Sharjeel Memon said: “The temperature in Dubai shoots up to 50 degree Celsius, but neither their underground cables heated up nor their feeders tripped. The KE must upgrade its system in the interest of Karachiites and in their (KE) business interest.”

Karachi Commissioner Shoaib Siddiqi said: “The city administration, such as the commissioner or deputy commissioners, represent the chief minister. They are arms and ears of the government, therefore, they must be kept in the loop by KE while taking important decisions such as power disconnection or loadshedding.”

The chief minister directed KE to increase their field teams from 600 vehicles to 800 vehicles. The KE CEO agreed to comply with the chief minister’s directive.

Syed Qaim Ali Shah directed the SSGC to improve the gas pressure at the two power plants of KE, SITE and Korangi, so that they could be made functional. The SSGC representative and the commissioner talked to their top administration during the meeting and got the gas load sanctioned.

The CM directed the commissioner to form committees for coordination between KE centre heads and relevant deputy commissioners.

The commissioner and the KE representative agreed to constitute committees to help resolve the issues.

Published in Dawn, June 24th, 2015

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