Around 300 feeders tripped in different parts of the city on Saturday shortly after the city witnessed heavy rainfall that plagued various localities into darkness, compelling the citizens to pass their nights without electricity.
Most parts of the city plunged into darkness, with reports of broken wires in many areas, indicating that the Karachi Electric Supply Company had not taken precautionary measures to strengthen its distribution system ahead of this monsoon contrary to its claims. Despite claims by the KESC that its helpline number 118 was open 24 hours for consumers, it was not responding to the complaints of cable snapping, feeder tripping and PMT faults.
The areas that faced power outages included Gurumander, Lalokhet, Malir, Shah Faisal Colony, Federal B Area, Landhi, Korangi, Gulshan-i-Iqbal, Gulistan-i-Jauhar, Sir Syed Town, Malir Cantonment, Gulshan-Naval Colony, Malir, Saddar, Lyari, Baldia, North Karachi, Delhi Colony, Metroville and others. Consumers residing in Layri were furious because they had no power supply between 3:00 pm and 4:00 am and again experienced an outage after some time. They said that prolonged power outages had become a matter of routine and despite repeated complaints lodged with the KESC, the issue had not yet been resolved.
Most fatal accidents faced by people had occurred due to them coming in contact with broken wires and catching current through wet poles during the rains, KESC sources claimed. KESC failed to rectify faults and restore power supply in the affected parts of city till filing of this report.