KARACHI: Residents of the city’s Korangi and Gulistan-e-Jauhar areas spent Thursday night protesting against ‘unjust’ load shedding in their localities.
Korangi’s Zaman Town residents claimed to be without electricity for 24 hours. Residents burnt tires and blocked the road, suspending traffic.
The protesters dispersed once the police reached the site assured them of reducing the power cuts in their areas. Similar scenes were witnessed in block-7 of Gulistan-e-Jauhar.
Moreover, Liaquatabad, Old City, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, North Karachi and Landhi, among other areas, are suffering from prolonged power cuts.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson of the city’s power utility, K-Electric, said it is incorrect to label localised faults during Sehri time as ‘load shedding’. The spokesperson claimed that no load shedding is carried out in residential areas.
The prevailing power cuts have also caused a shortage of water in various parts of Karachi. Officials of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) said that recent load shedding at their main pumping stations, including Dhabeji, have resulted in the curtailment of water supply.
KWSB Deputy Managing Director Asadullah told local media outlet that the intermittent power supply to the Dhabeji, Pipri, Gharo, NIK and Hub pumping stations has affected the flow of water to the residents.
However, K-Electric chief marketing officer Fakhar Ahmed said they have installed new transformers at the water board, adding that KWSB’s faulty system is to blame for the water shortage and not the power utility.
Meanwhile, overnight protests were also held across Sindh, with demonstrations occurring in Hyderabad, Mirpurkhas, Tando Allah Yar and other districts of the province.
Residents complained against 6-12 hours of load-shedding in their localities.
A spokesperson of the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company claimed that the situation is likely to get better in the next few days.
