Will KE supply power after people start dying? asks SHC

At least 25pc of city facing unannounced outages due to shortfall of 600MW

“Is the K-Electric waiting for people to die [from load-shedding] before it starts providing electricity to the people?” asked the Sindh High Court’s Justice Irfan Saadat Khan on Wednesday while heading the bench hearing a case relating to outages.

Referring to heatstroke fatalities during the heatwave of 2015 in the city, the judge remarked that they could not sit idle when the city was being subjected to unannounced load-shedding.

However, it appears that the city’s power woes are not going to end any time soon because at least 25 per cent of the metropolis is being subjected severe unannounced load-shedding due to a shortfall of 600MW.

Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Malir, Shah Faisal Colony, Tariq Bin Ziyad Society, Model Colony, Nazimabad, Nagan Chowrangi and Federal B Area are the vicinities that have been affected the worst from the unannounced power outages.

Moreover, the K-Electric authorities have also failed to fix a fault in the National Transmission & Despatch Company’s 500KVA circuit pool since the past three days, resulting in curtailment of electricity

Interestingly, in the given situation, the KE has chosen to stay mum over the prevailing power crisis by refusing to give any official statement.

Just a day earlier, Sindh’s chief minister had urged KE to improve its power distribution system in view of the hot weather as well as spare the citizens from prolonged outages.

“During prolonged outages the people of the city face serious problems, particularly those who live in flats and small houses,” CM Syed Murad Ali Shah said during a meeting with the KE’s management.

The meeting was attended by KE Chairman Waqar Siddique, CEO Tayyab Tareen, External Director Asmar Naeem and Chief Marketing & Communication Officer Fakhar Ahmed, as well as CM’s Principal Secretary Sohail Rajput, Energy Secretary Agha Wasif and Local Government Secretary Ramzan Awan.

CM Shah said the KE should have improved its power distribution system before the weather turned hot. On this KE chairman Siddique said the system had been improved by laying new cables and replacing the old ones.

“The recent major power breakdown was the result of a storm in the rural parts of the province, because of which the [supply] towers had collapsed.”

Shah said that besides the breakdown, there were complaints about outages. “They must be reduced to minimum level. The issue of overbilling, against which political parties have raised a hue and cry, should also be addressed.”

He said industrialists had also been complaining about outages. “I suggest that the KE rationalise power cuts in industrial and residential areas,” he added, and urged the electric firm to take special measures to reduce outages to negligible level during Ramazan.

He also urged the KE to end power cuts at the pumping stations of the Karachi Water & Sewerage Board. “During outages the people are not only deprived of electricity but water as well.”

On this KE CEO Tareen said the pumping stations were being supplied electricity from feeders that were free from load-shedding.

CM Shah also asked the power company to expedite electrification in the rural parts of the city. “I want to electrify all our villages located on the outskirts of the city.”

He said: “We’re providing [the KE] 100MW from our maiden Nooriabad Power Plant with the hope that the city and its adjoining areas would be exempted from load-shedding.”

The KE administration assured the chief executive that they would look after the city in terms of power cuts during Ramazan as well as after the holy month.