The on-strike workers of Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) late Wednesday night ended the 16-hour-long siege of the power utility head office after Sindh Home Minister Manzoor Wasan told them that their demands would be accepted.
Earlier, Wasan reached the KESC head office for dialogue with the protesters. He met with the representatives of KESC CBA and Peoples’ Workers Union (PWU) and assured them of acceptance of their demands. He said the government had arranged a meeting to resolve the problem and invited representatives the trade unionists as well. On the assurance of the provincial minister, the protesting workers of power utility ended hostage of their high-ups. Talking to Pakistan Today, PWU Chairman Ayaz Mengal said the meeting was scheduled to be held at the Governor’s House today (Thursday), adding that the Sindh governor would chair the meeting while the chief minister and the representatives of management would also be there. On the other hand, KESC refused to restart field operation until the power utility was not provided with security. A spokesman said the end of blockade and talks with workers did not mean that field operations were restored for which provision of security was a must.
On the other hand, the citizens started facing the consequences of suspension of KESC field operation. The KESC increased the duration of load-shedding up to 12 hours and stopped purchase of furnace oil and gas for the last two days, which resulted into power crisis in the financial hub.
Late in the night, the residents of Malir blocked the Shahrah-e-Faisal against unavailability of power while the areas of SITE Industrial Zone, Baldia, North Nazimabad, Kemari and Orangi Town also plunged into darkness.