Karachiites had to brave prolonged and frequent cuts in power supply on Monday causing serious miseries amid hot and humid weather. Various quarters of the city, including students, senior citizens, traders and shopkeepers, were seriously affected by recurring breakdowns in the power supply, a majority of which were attributed to load-shedding by the city’s power utility, the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC).

The electric supply situation remained aggravated in various residential localities of the metropolis since Sunday night. Residents of various localities have complained about prolonged instances of low, fluctuating voltage supply, especially in the night-time, causing serious problems in the functioning of a number of household electrical appliances.

Meanwhile, Karachi’s main electronics market in Saddar has been flooded by Uninterrupted Power Supply (UPS) units, with suffering consumers having no option but to purchase unreliable UPS units at exorbitant rates.

People in the market said that a number of buyers were returning to UPS merchants with complaints of faults in the units. The problems stems from a mixture of a highly precarious electric and voltage supply situation and the unchecked sale of substandard UPS units.

A resident of Gulshan-e-Iqbal Block-1 said that his residential block was deprived of electricity at 9 a.m. on Monday and power was restored after 2 p.m. Earlier, he said, the area residents had to suffer a breakdown of over two hours in the night between Sunday and Monday.

A caller from Gulistan-e-Jauhar Block-7 said that his area was deprived of electricity for over three hours the previous night, causing serious discomfort to the area dwellers. Another complainant from DHA Phase-II extension said that his area was without electricity from 1 a.m. to 4 a.m. in the wee hours of Monday, and again from 9 a.m. to noon. The area was then deprived of electricity after 6 p.m. and was not restored till late in the evening.

School goers, students of colleges and universities, and especially candidates of Class IX and X who are currently giving their annual examinations, have been facing challenging times preparing for their exams owing to the frequent electricity breakdowns.

A reliable source in the KESC said that the power utility on Monday faced a maximum shortage of 346 Megawatts in meeting the burgeoning electricity demand in the city. The gap in power supply and demand has lately widened due to the shutting down of Unit no. 2 of the Bin Qasim Thermal Power Station for maintenance and overhauling purpose.

The said unit will be available for power generation after 10 days. Concerned quarters in the city have questioned the planning of the KESC, which has shut down one of its major generation units for maintenance in the midst of the summer season. The power utility had announced major maintenance and overhauling of its power generation, transmission, and distribution systems and installations a couple of months back in the middle of the winter season.