No area to be spared from power cuts: KE

Karachi
The K-Electric (KE) has announced that from now on all areas of the city will have to face load shedding since electricity demand in the city had increased to a record high of more than 3,100 megawatts on account of the prevailing heatwave.
In a press statement issued on Monday, the power company requested citizens to avoid using unnecessary electricity equipment.
The company stated that during the unbearable heatwave in the city, the demand for electricity had increased manifold while production from KANUPP was suspended due to technical reasons, leaving the KE without 70 megawatts in its system.
Moreover, it was said, low level of gas supply at other power plants had also affected the overall production of electricity in the city.
The KE spokesperson further said that certain areas which were previously exempted from the system would now also suffer load shedding so that the company could manage power supply and maintain equal distribution to all areas of the city. The spokesman appealed to its valued customers to understand the current situation and refrain from excessive use of electrical appliances for conserving energy for everyone’s use.

KE fights back
The power company finally responded to the harsh criticism it has been facing from all corners and in a press statement issued late Monday night said that the allegations being levelled on the company’s poor performance by provincial ministers were completely “baseless”.
The KE spokesperson said it was saddening to see the power utility labelled as one of the best in the country was being targeted on all fronts.
“The ministers and government officials are fond of pointing fingers at the KE for hundreds of heat-related deaths which are mainly caused by dehydration and gastrointestinal diseases,” it was said.
Citing expert views, the KE spokesperson said the lack of clean drinking water and unavailability of water at all had aggravated the situation, while claiming that it had been supplying uninterrupted electricity to all government hospitals, even the defaulting ones.
The spokesperson said it was absurd that the hospitals have no backup generators and pointed out that the government was responsible for ensuring them.
The spokesperson stressed the fact that the ministers continue to ignore that the overall demand of the city had risen to a record high of 3,100 megawatts without any supplementary supply from KANUPP and low gas supply at various other power plants.
He said the government, to hide its own efficiencies, found it easier to blame the KE. The spokesperson said the provincial government should also take note of its own dues worth more than Rs50 billion while the federal government owed the company around Rs111 billion.

CM lambasts KE again
Meanwhile, chief minister Qaim Ali Shah said that KE had not kept its word and exempted hospitals from load shedding, even during the prevailing heatwave.
He said the Sindh government had paid all its electricity dues but even then its hospitals were compelled to function on generators during load shedding hours.
He was talking to the media during a visit to the Qatar Hospital in Orangi, which during his visit was also seemingly without power.
He was accompanied by health minister Jam Mehtab Dahar, Karachi Metropolitan Corporation Administrator and other officials.
The chief minister expressed his displeasure over load shedding at the hospital where he had gone to inquire about the health of heat-stricken people.
He said his government had directed the KE to exempt hospitals and public utility organisations such as the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) from load shedding and the power company had promised to abide by it.
“But today when I have come here to inquire about the health of heat-stricken people and monitor treatment arrangements, I myself found the hospital to be without power, causing severe difficulties to patients and doctors both. This type of behaviour from the KE is deplorable,” said the chief minister.
However, answering a question, he said the heatwave was a natural calamity but the load shedding had escalated its effect and increased the overall death toll by many times.
Answering another question, he claimed that the Sindh government had ensured all required arrangements at its hospitals from the first day of the heatwave and thousands of people had been treated in time.
Moreover, the chief minister also claimed that the provincial government had established heatstroke centres all across the city and praised the health department on its work.
He said he had come to the visit the hospital without prior intimation, but besides the absence of power he had found good arrangements and dedicated doctors.
He said he had been informed by the hospital management that more than 12,000 patients affected by the heatwave had been treated here and not a single one of them had expired.
However, according records available with The News, so far more than 40 people had died from heatstroke at Qatar hospital.
To another question, the chief minister said since electricity was a federal subject, it was answerable to the people for their miseries.
He said Karachi was not without ownership. “We are its owner and we are here to serve the people,” he said.
However, a day earlier, health minister Jam Mehtab Dahar on a visit to the Jinnah Postgraduate Medical Centre had admitted that 37 percent of the deaths had taken place on account of heatstroke and other heat-related illnesses.
On the other hand, Sindh local government minister Sharjeel Memon during a visit to the Abbasi Shaheed Hospital said the KE’s system was obsolete and incapable of supplying power to Karachi.

Citizens’ protest
Meanwhile, protests erupted in different areas of the city, including North Nazimabad, Surjani, Korangi, Landhi, Sakhi Hassan and Clifton over extended load shedding by the KE.
The protesters burnt tires on the road and blocked main thoroughfares, and staged demonstrations while holing placards and banners to roll back the privatisation of the power utility.
They demanded from Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif to nationalise KE and constitution of a committee comprising judges of the Sindh High Court to inquire about countless deaths and the responsibility of the KE in it.
They also criticised the prime minister from not resolving the issue and demanded a relief package for the people of Karachi.
Protesters in Clifton said the KE was minting money and did not install new transformers while the older ones often tripped when the power load increased.
The residents of Orangi Town said they were without power during Sehri and Iftar and asked the chief minister to abdicate from his post.
They said the chief minister was powerless and said he could never take the KE to task, but only play blame games.
The protesters demanded to know how the KE could send inflated bills when it did not supply electricity in the first place.

KU facing power crisis
The Karachi University administration has expressed grave concern over prolonged power outages, and appealed to the administration of the K-Electric to exempt the university from the electricity cuts, said a statement on Monday.
“Due to the unannounced power outages, the administrative offices have stopped working, while the research work in the faculty of pharmacy, science and social sciences is adversely affected,” it mentioned.