There is a new twist in the tale of chronic load-shedding. It is alleged that KESC's excuse for shortfall of 600 mega watts of power is due to the inaction of two units of Bin Qasim power plant, is a "cover up" and the real purpose is to save on cost of fuel. In other words, there should be virtually no load-shedding if KESC was to generate electricity to its full capacity.
The privatised KESC came under fire at the City Council during its May 16 session. Treasury and opposition members jointly accused KESC for creating an artificial shortfall of power. On the same day Naib Nazim Nasreen Jalil criticised the KESC management's reluctance to buy electricity from Independent Power Producers (IPPs). She also revealed that the Iranian government had offered 800 mega watt electricity to Pakistan but the government only bought 100 MW for Gwadar city. She asked why the government did not purchase the remaining 700 MW to overcome the shortfall of power in Karachi. Karachiites would like to know if the government is hand in glove with the KESC and deliberately wants Karachi to suffer.
Earlier, on May 13, PPP Karachi division accused KESC of deliberately remaining indifferent to power generation and distribution. The PPP alleged the KESC management was internally undermining Pakistan's economy by not investing to improve the generation and distribution of power.
The KESC was also accused of working against the interests of the ruling party. Karachi's traders, industrialists and business community are in full agreement with the PPP that 8 to 15 hours load-shedding is paralysing the economy because the megacity is the financial hub of the country.
The strongest allegation was made by Pepco authorities that KESC was operating only half its generation capacity to save on fuel cost and, instead, bought cheaper electricity from Pepco, Pepco supplies 600 mega watt electricity to the privatised KESC.
Another reason to suspect that the load-shedding is largely artificial is that the current demand-supply gap of 2,900 MW is much below last year's deficit of 4,400 MW, yet load-shedding has increased enormously compared to last year.
Karachi is at present suffering from a heat wave, which is normal weather in May and June. The temperature in Karachi ranges between 36 and 41 degrees Celsius in these months. The highest recorded temperature last week was 39 degrees Celsius. But it is not the temperature alone that has made the weather unpleasant. The high level of humidity of 65 percent and the lack of breeze has added further discomfort. It seems Nature is conspiring with KESC to give Karachiites a foretaste of Hell.
There are now demands to revoke the privatisation of the KESC. Citizens demanded that the Chief Justice of Pakistan take suo moto notice of the failure of Abaraj management of the KESC's handling of the power supply situation. Previously, Chief Justice would not have waited for the public to make such a demand and would have taken suo moto action on his own initiative. But ever since he has been re-instated he seems strangely quiet. Is he afraid of upsetting the PPP applecart the way Musharraf's was upset by his bold decision to reverse the privatisation of the Steel Mills?
Apart from the Karachi division, the PPP-led government has taken no notice of the plight of Karachi and what havoc load-shedding is causing to the economy. Karachi's Naib Nazim is not the only one who has accused the government of ignoring the city's poor power supply.
Much of the anger of Karachiites due to the invisibility or the culprits of their woes. The private owners of KESC are not available for them to beat up, so the power riots are just an impotent rage demonstrated by burning tyres, throwing some stones at the complaint centres (staff absent) and chanting slogans. The private owners seem above accountability. Perhaps that is why there is a demand, led by MQM, that KESC should be immediately taken back into government control. At least in the days when KESC was run by the government public protest was not blatantly ignored.
All the old problems, which were to disappear once the KESC was privatised are still there. Tripping of transformers, power theft, lack of conservation of energy, lack of proper maintenance is worse than what it was before privatisation.
No investor is so foolish to buy a dead horse and expect it to win the Quaid-i-Azam Gold Cup. KESC, in spite of its many faults and flaws was the hen that laid the golden egg and was quickly privatised. So why is it that every owner has complained of losses and yet has been able to sell the KESC to a new investor?
Karachi has been victimised, there is no doubt, but let us be honest and take some of the blame for our city's power problems. It is not just people who live in kuchi abadis or the labour colonies who steal electricity. The amount of electricity stolen by posh business houses in Clifton and DHA must far exceed the petty thievery of the poor.
These localities also have more streetlights than are necessary. There is no effort, either by the KESC or the housing societies to conserve energy by reducing the number of streetlights. There is no reduction in the use of energy in the shopping areas, which remain open late at night. Daylight Saving Time only means offices close an hour earlier. But shoppers still do not like to venture out to the markets while it is still day and the weather is hot. They wait for the evening to go shopping, after all, is not just serious business. In Karachi it is also a great evening pastime to go window shopping and then stop at a favourite wayside kabab sellers or ice-cream shop.
How to beat the heat? We don't have a hill resort but we have the sea. The most accessible seaside is the Clifton beach. Have you been there lately? You can't stroll barefoot along the beach as the sand is still yukky from the oilspill of the Tasman Spirit. You can't dip into the ocean because the water is polluted with effluence. So what do we do? We sit at home, turn on the AC, turn on the TV. And when power shuts off, we curse the KESC.
Comments
Comments are closed.