Criticising the K-Electric (KE) for prolonged power cut of up to 10 hours in some areas during extreme weather conditions, leaders of the Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) and Jamaat-e-Islami (JI) on Sunday said the power utility was unable to overcome load-shedding despite the passage if more than one-and-a-half decade after its privatisation. Unannounced and intermittent load-shedding in many areas of the city continued on Sunday.
MQM-P’s criticism
MQM-P’s National Assembly members in a statement said, “Electricity is cut off for hours in most parts of the city in the name of load-shedding in extreme heat." They added that the KE had only been collecting money from people of Karachi by raising electricity tariffs. “The K-Electric has caused mental anguish to the citizens.”
The MQM-P legislators maintained that the power utility was carrying out unannounced load-shedding, which was greatly disturbing the residents of Karachi. They asked why citizens of Karachi had been left at the mercy of the KE.
The residents of Karachi were fed up with the persistent load-shedding and excessive billing, the MQM-P MNAs said as they urged Prime Minister Imran Khan to take notice of the KE’s excesses with the city’s residents.
JI slams KE
JI Karachi chief Hafiz Naeemur Rehman on Sunday accused the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra) and federal government of extending out-of-the-way support to the power supply company.
“The KE should have become self-sufficient in power generation a long ago but this is not the case because it was not a priority of the administration of the power supply company. They did not intend to do so when they were taking over the corporation,” he said.
According to the JI leader, the KE's lust for extraordinary income and its focus on overcharging had made the lives of citizens miserable. He said Nepra had violated the verdict of the Supreme Court in connection with the KE. “The apex court had ordered Nepra to decide about the monopoly of the KE in light of the aspirations of the people,” he maintained, adding that in violation of that direction, Nepra ordered maintenance of the status quo till 2023.
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