The power-deprived citizens of Karachi were forced to take to the streets on Wednesday as the row between the management of Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) and thousands of its workers continued for a third consecutive day. Power breakdowns have increased across the city as no employee of the company is available to fix the frequently occurring technical faults.
Over 4,000 KESC workers, who were declared non-core personnel by the power utility, have been campaigning against the KESC management and closing down the complaint centres was one of the measures for pressurising the administration to accept their demands. As the complaint centres have been shut down and there are no drivers and mobile trucks of the power utility, more areas are falling into darkness due to cable faults and tripping PMTs.
Citizens’ patience crossed the threshold on Wednesday and they took to the streets to lodge their protest against long hours of load shedding, blocking the thoroughfares and torching tyres. Female residents of Bahadurabad marched through various streets of the area and gathered at Shahrah-e-Quaideen. They blocked the roads leading to Numaish Chowrangi, Tariq Road and Shahrah-e-Faisal.
The women’s protest at Shahrah-e-Quaideen resulted in a gridlock at Numaish Chowrangi and Tariq Road. However, law enforcers arrived on the scene and forced the protesters to clear the roads, ensuring smooth flow of traffic. Similarly, the residents and shopkeepers of Pakistan Chowk and Urdu Bazaar temporarily blocked the MA Jinnah Road to lodge their protest. They claimed that there was no power in their area for the last 36 hours.
The residents of Al-Asif Square, Sohrab Goth blocked the Superhighway and torched tyres, suspending the vehicular traffic. The police arrived at the spot and baton-charged the crowd. The KESC claims that protesting workers were forcing their colleagues to shut down the company’s offices and substations. The areas hit by power outages include the PECHS, Garden, SITE, Lyari, Old Town, Manghopir, Orangi, New Challi, Defence, Gurumandir, Korangi, North Nazimabad, Gulistan-e-Johar, Safoora Goth and Orangi Town.
Instead of helping sort out the issue between the KESC and its workers, the provincial ministers opted to support the protesting employees. Electric Power Minister Shazia Marri and Katchi Abadis Minister Rafiq Engineer joined the protesters outside the Karachi Press Club on Wednesday to support them. KESC People’s Workers Union General Secretary Lateef Mughal told Pakistan Today that the power utility’s CEO Tabish Gauhar was not willing to talk to the workers.
He refuted the company’s allegations that the protesters forced the closure of KESC offices and said that the power company was deliberately doing this to get public sympathy.
