No electricity, phone and internet services in city

A massive telecommunication and power crisis hit the metropolis on Friday, after infrastructure of various cellular companies was submerged in rainwater and their towers couldn’t be supplied fuel due to power outages and floods.

Subscribers of multiple networks reported being unable to connect to cellular data and calling/messaging services, leaving them in the dark regarding the well-being of loved ones. Meanwhile, power outages of more than 48 hours doubled the mental agony of residents as they were left devoid of any source of information, and spent the night with little or no sleep.

The sole power supplier struggled to restore electricity to various parts of the city even 26 hours after the massive monsoon rainfall. “We felt like living in dark age – devoid of power, cellular network and water everywhere,” said Jafri, a resident of Defence Housing Authority (DHA).

Meanwhile the power utility reasoned that their installations were submerged in rainwater. The national telecom regulator said on Friday that cellular services in the city were not blocked and outages faced by users were due to the prolonged power breakdown. Pakistan Telecommunication Authority (PTA) spokesperson Khurram Mehran said that due to prolonged power failure in the city, many towers were out of service and their generators were shut because there was no fuel to power them.

He said the blockages had nothing to do with the Muharram security, as was being speculated in some circles. The Pakistan Telecommunication Limited (PTICL), in its official statement, said that the torrential rainfall in Karachi had brought life to a standstill and as a result their connectivity services had been also impacted.

“This is an unprecedented situation due to which, we are facing a lot of challenges in the provision of seamless services in many areas. We sincerely apologise for the inconvenience caused. Rest assured, our dedicated teams are working round the clock for service restoration.”

A resident of Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Block 11, Sumbul, shared that they had no power since Thursday evening and then mobile signals were gone in the wee hours of Friday. “There was a complete information blackout,” she said, adding that they couldn’t even make complain to the KE regarding their power outage.” Somehow, she said that the family managed to inform their relatives about the power outage, who complained to the KE on their behalf. Beenish Khatoon, resident of Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Block 5, spent a sleepless night on Thursday, as her daughter couldn’t return from office. “She informed me that she was going to her friend’s house by a coaster arranged by her office,” she said, adding that until Friday noon she wasn’t in touch with her. “There wasn’t any power at home, no mobile signal, no TV and internet. We didn’t know what was happening in the world,” she said.

The areas where the power supply couldn’t be restored until Friday night were Surjani Town, several areas of Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Golimar, Defence View’s Phase 1, DHA, Clifton, PECHS, Saadi Town, Gulshan-e-Maymar, New Karachi, Quaidebad North Karachi, Nazimabad, North Nazimabad, Gulberg, Quaidabad, Gulshan-e-Bonaire, Gulshan-e-Hadeed, Gulshan-e-Maymar, Malir Jaffar Tayar, Saudabad, Khokrapar, Kharadar and Lyari and several other areas.

In Gulshan-e-Iqbal 13-D, the power couldn’t be restored even 28 hours after the rains. The situation in Defense View, Phase 1, was even worse where there had been no power for 48 hours.

KE statement

The KE said in its press statement that following the record-breaking rains on Thursday, KE teams had been working to swiftly restore power across Karachi despite on-ground challenges posed by severe urban flooding.

The KE was forced to suspend the power supply to over 900 feeders on account of emergency complaints and safety hazards created due to water entering homes. Restoration work was initiated immediately when the rain stopped and the regular power supply had resumed to over 80 per cent of the city by mid-afternoon, including Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Saddar, Garden, Numaish, Punjab Colony, Korangi, Nazimabad, and Federal B Area with the support provided by the city administration for drainage and dewatering. However, several parts of Defence Housing Authority, Clifton, Bahadurabad, Surjani Town, Landhi, and Gulshan-e-Hadeed continue to face outages on account of standing water, which had also entered substations and other sensitive electrical installations.

To expedite complaint resolution in these areas, the KE said it had ensured additional resources, including equipment, vehicles and teams. At the same time, the power utility was in coordination with the district and city administrations to ensure timely drainage of accumulated rainwater. The KE’s operational teams and vehicles had also been affected due to the city-wide situation, said a statement, adding that fuel availability and accessibility challenges due to waterlogging made it difficult for field teams to reach working locations, while in some cases, KE vehicles were also damaged or stranded in deep water.

Areas where power was restored by Friday afternoon include West Wharf, Fisheries, SITE Area, Super Highway, North Karachi, Federal B Area, Rizvia Society, Pak Fazaia Society and PECHS. The power utility said it continued to strongly endorse electrical safety precautions at home and outside and urged citizens to maintain safe distance from power infrastructure.