KARACHI: The electricity and water utilities continued to pile miseries on Karachiites on the fourth consecutive day of extreme heat on Wednesday while people took to streets in several parts of the metropolis against prolonged loadshedding and acute water shortages.

The public protests caused severe traffic jams and disrupted routine life in many areas.

The residents, who regularly face water shortages and unannounced power loadshedding for hours, erected barricades and burnt tyres in parts of the city to protest against “cruelty and apathy” of the K-Electric and the Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC).

The worst-affected areas were the parts of districts Central, East and Korangi where water supply remained suspended for the past two days and prolonged loadshedding of electricity was underway in sweltering heat.

JI warns govt of bigger protests if public problems not addressed

While people had no means to beat the heat, the acute shortages of water and frequent disruption of power supply made their lives miserable, they said.

In many areas, the residents had to move to houses of their relatives and friends in the localities where the situation was comparatively better.

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Many others had to fetch water from their relatives and friends in other parts of the city, exposing them in heat. Sick and old people, women and children suffered the most in the absence of water and electricity in the sizzling weather.

In Safoora Goth and its neighbourhoods, the power supply remained suspended for hours forcing the frustrated residents to come out of their houses and gather in the streets.

They said that the “indifference” of the KE and the KWSC during the heatwave had put the lives of citizens at stake.

The protesters said that power went off in the vicinity at 1am and remained suspended for 12 hours.

They said that unannounced loadshedding for 12 to 16 hours had become a daily routine.

A resident of Model Colony said that the outdated pole-mounted transformers (PMTs) and feeders of the power utility tripped in extreme heat, while on the other hand power supply was suspended for hours in the name of repairing faults.

JI protest against water shortage

People gathered on main Sharea Faisal on Wednesday to stage a sit-in outside the headquarters of Karachi Water and Sewerage Corporation (KWSC) on the call of Jamaat-i-Islami to protest against the “acute and prolonged water crisis” in the city.

The protesters carried placards and banners and chanted slogans against the “tanker mafia and their facilitators”.

Speaking to the protesters, JI Karachi chief Ameer Munem Zafar warned the authorities that the protest could further expand, if the government did not resolve the public problems.

He lambasted the federal and provincial governments for “neglecting Karachi and its people despite the fact that the city generates a major chunk of revenue for the both”.

He said the prolonged acute water crisis in the city was right now the biggest challenge of the people.

He recalled that the JI’s mayor Abdul Sattar Afghani in 1980s had completed the K-I and K-II water supply projects, whereas the JI’s Nematuallah Khan had completed the K-III and initiated the K-IV project that was supposed to cater the future needs of the city.

“The K-IV was supposed to be completed in 2019 but still it’s in limbo, whereas the tanker mafia with the support of authorities robbing Karachiites of billions of rupees,” he claimed.

The JI leader demanded the government to ensure smooth water supply to Karachi through pipelines and bring the tanker mafia to an end.

Published in Dawn, June 27th, 2024