Frequent and unscheduled power cuts in Karachi have left the residents in the lurch and it is not just normal life that has been thrown out of gear but even small scale businesses, small and medium industries are facing untold hardships. Owners of small scale businesses said that the government has failed to safeguard the interests of the tiny, small scale businesses and medium industries who are in dire need of power for industrial operations.
With the suspension of power for more than eight hours a day, there is loss of two thirds in production. Stressing the necessity for continuous operations in machine based industries, they said, "when production resumes after a break in supply of power, the consumption rate of electricity is 20 times higher than normal."
With no revenue coming in, small businesses such as photostat, lathe machine, tailors, dry cleaners, photo studios, net cafes, etc, beside small and medium industries are suffering huge losses and find it difficult to meet daily expenses and also pay the rent and utility bills.
Frequent power outages forced many tiny, small businesses and industries to manage with generators, thus increasing production cost. With a four-fold increase in production cost, the market rate of finished goods had also risen. This has blunted the competitive edge enjoyed by small manufactureRs . Materials under process in readymade garment units, chemical, plastic and rubber industries are wasted due to unreliable energy supply. They are already facing adversity due to ever increasing cost of living and increase in load shedding.
Small businesses such as tailoring units and small-scale flour mills that are dependent heavily on festivals are facing a severe crisis situation in view of the 8 to 10 hours of power cuts in the city on the pretext of gas shortage. They urged the government to direct K-Electric to run its power plants on furnace oil, instead of making hue and cry about the shortage of gas. They urged the government to ensure uninterrupted power supply to units that run on continuous basis.
Comments
Comments are closed.