Rising mercury, hours-long power cuts pile misery on Karachiites

Many localities of the metropolis were thrown into the darkness on the first day of Ramazan as residents woke up to have their Sehri, Geo News reported on Thursday.

As Karachiites welcomed the holy month, they were awarded with an unwelcome guest: load-shedding. Many families were forced to eat their Sehri meal in utter darkness or in candlelight. Power outages were reported in numerous areas, including smaller localities of Korangi and Landhi, as well as Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Garden, Liaquatabad, North Karachi, Surjani Town, and FB Area.

K-Electric, the sole power supplier for the country's biggest industrial hub, denied the load-shedding reports, saying it was, instead, implementing load management strategy. KE said work on one of the electrical units may have led to the implementation of the load management strategy in a few areas. A spokesperson for the electrical supply company said people should refrain from terming "local faults as load-shedding".

According to a report carried by The News website, the KE spokesman had said on Wednesday that all was set to restore its 180-megawatt Bin Qasim power station over the coming weekend after fixing of the plant with a $5-million equipment replacement.

The spokesperson said KE technical teams and General Electric (GE) had begun the installation of the rotor imported from Holland at a cost of $5 million at the 180MW Bin Qasim power station, “which is expected to be re-energised till May 20.

Soaring mercury

Karachi is expected to bear blistering heat during the first week of Ramazan, according to the Pakistan Meteorological (Met) Department. The temperature was expected to rise as high as 40°C in Karachi on Thursday.

Earlier in the week, the Met office had said that sweltering heat is expected to persist in the city during the first week of Ramazan, with temperatures expecting to hover between 38°C and 40°C.

Hot and dry weather prevailed towards the end of March in Karachi, which temperatures soaring to the maximum 40°C on March 26. The Met Office had said the temperature may also feel higher than it would actually be due to a lack of sea breeze.