Minister asks KE to immediately redress citizens’ grievances

The Sindh government has shown its concerns over increasing electricity loadshedding in Karachi despite the arrival of winter and demanded sewerage and clean water pumps be exempted from any sort of load management.

At a meeting held at the energy department on Tuesday, provincial energy minister Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh said drinking water and sewage pumping stations should be exempted from loadshedding to enable an uninterrupted drinking water supply and sewage drainage throughout the city. He said loadshedding had increased in the city despite the arrival of winter. The meeting was attended among others by Karachi Administrator Barrister Murtaza Wahab, Senator Yusuf Baloch, Energy Secretary Abu Bakar Madani, Chief Executive Officer K-Electric Monis Alvi and other officers.

All the officials raised several complaints against the power utility and demanded an immediate end to loadshedding. The energy minister pointed out that the duration of load shedding in Karachi had reached 10 to 14 hours. “Consumers’ complaints are not addressed,” he said. Shaikh, addressing the KE chief, said people expect the public representatives to resolve the issue of loadshedding in the city. “We are answerable to public,” he stressed, adding that the power utility should immediately redress public grievances.

The KE chief was also directed to set up camps in different areas for the immediate solution of the problems of the citizens. The power utility was also asked to reduce the period of loadshedding and devise a mechanism for complaints of excessive billing to create convenience for the KE consumers.

Meanwhile, the KE said in a press statement that its senior leadership gave a detailed briefing to the energy minister and other important members about the challenges in ensuring regular payments of bills, which was an integral component of ensuring a stable supply of electricity. The KE leadership also requested support to eliminate electricity theft across Karachi’s densely populated neighborhoods. They also said that the electricity supply was not possible without ensuring payments of electricity bills in a timely manner.