June began with a big bang of the muhalla transformer. An hour later, and still no sign of the power being restored, the family which lives in the apartment above mine, clattered down the stairs in their nightdresses. The mother said "I am going to my mother's house; this has happened so many times before (in past years). The power will not be restored this night". She was right. It was five in the morning when it returned.
On another occasion, the power breakdown was so long in the Karachi Press Club area that the generator fuel was used up and we sweltered in the muggy heat. We discussed power theft that continues to be a bane in all areas of the city. From the kachi abaadis to the posh areas, there are power thieves everywhere.
The power breakdown that caused city-wide rage was at midnight exactly at 12 just when a crucial FIFA World Cup match was about to begin. The city was plunged in darkness because of a grid fault. For eight hours there was no power supply. So changing the name from KESC to K-Electric or KE, has not changed a thing, has it? The problems of power supply are the same; so are the excuses the KE makes in its defence.
Nevertheless, one thing has changed. There are fewer riots due to power breakdown or poor power supply or frequent load-shedding. The reason for this peculiar phenomenon, said a colleague, is increase in houses without power meters depending on the "kunda" for their electric supply. Are they going to draw attention to themselves? Apartments, bungalows, offices, shops, small-time work places such as auto garages, tailor's, embroiders of women's clothes, burger joints, mini marts and such like are "kunda" users. In some cases the power meter was never installed; in other cases it was, but the "kunda" was used to cut down on the power bill; in still other cases the KE staff had not even offered to install power meters. This is the case in most kachi abaadis especially, but not exclusively.
The KE's fancy new technocrats who do not move out of their seats to inspect the problems. The line staff, on the other hand, knows where every single "kunda" is located. The fancy new technocrats are so innocent they do not even know the dirty doings of the lower staff. They have become the laughing stock of the city with their stupid advertisements on TV exhorting the public to save electricity. Save what electricity, you may ask, when half the day there is no power supply due to break down and load-shedding? These measures must be saving quite a lot of electricity, why would the public fail to use the few hours of power they do get?
Listen to this true story of a man who tried to get rid of "kundas" in his muhalla. Across from his bungalow a new ten-apartment building was constructed. The builders handed over the apartments without installation of basic amenities such as water, gas and power. Water could be purchased from the tanker mafia, gas came in cylinders and power with "kundas". Each of those apartments pays Rs 5,000 per month to KE lower staff for this electricity theft. Most of the apartments have two or three ACs along with the usual electrical gadgets such as fans, lamps, irons, fridges, freezers, probably also power-operated kitchen gadgets. In one apartment an enterprising woman has set up several sewing machines and supplied embroidered dress pieces to various shops. In short, they use more than Rs 5,000 worth of electricity.
The concerned citizen complained to the KE. The officer was shocked (O my, shocked) to hear about the massive theft. He immediately sent the line staff to remove the kundas. It was done. An hour later the "kundas" were back in place. The citizen complained again, this time not only the kundas but all connecting wires etc were removed. An hour later the "kundas" were back. The citizen complained a third time. The KE officer was really enraged this time. He went personally to the apartment and supervised the removal of "kundas". He also issued hefty fines for misuse of power to all ten apartment owners. A few days later the "kundas" were back in place.
Everyone knows, except the KE officials, why there is such blatant misuse of power supply. The real culprits to catch are the lower staff. If each was threatened with loss of job if "kundas" were reported in their area of operation, the menace of "kundas" would disappear in no time at all. The real thieves are employees of the KE who earn from charging for the "kundas". The "kunda" is the hen that lays the golden egg. Just imagine how much money is made by the line men if ten apartments paid only Rs 5,000 that is Rs 50,000 in their pocket.
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