KE blames surging demand as prolonged power cuts pile misery on citizens

With a heat wave gripping Karachi and other parts of Sindh, loadshedding hours have increased manifolds in the city, causing great difficulty for its residents.

Almost all areas of the city are witnessing prolonged power outages this summer. The affected areas include North Karachi, Surjani Town, Shadman Town, Buffer Zone, Nazimabad, North Nazimabad, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Lyari, Saddar, Malir, Landhi, Korangi, Defense Housing Authority, Clifton, Boat Basin, Ibrahim Hyderi, II Chundrigar Road and Shah Faisal Town, where loadshedding is piling misery on the residents.

Earlier in April, when there was a power crisis during Ramazan, K-Electric, the sole power provider of the city, said it was a shortfall of 300 megawatts from the national grid. Later in the month, for another power crisis the power utility blamed fuel shortage as the reason for extending the hours of loadshedding in Karachi.

A resident of North Karachi’s Sector 11-A, Syed Hasban, said the power utility should focus on power generation rather than resorting to hours-long of loadshedding. “We suffer two to three hours of power outage after every two hours in a day,” he said, asking how the KE could justify this by putting the blame on the heatwave. Another resident of PECHS, Muhammad Zain, said that the hours of loadshedding had increased manifolds in his area. “I work from home and with this power crisis I have to go to restaurants where I can get power to connect my laptop,” he said.

KE’s statement

Director Communications and Spokesperson K-Electric Imran Rana clarified that the current heatwave conditions across the country were driving a surge in electricity demand.

“While K-Electric is undertaking all possible measures to manage the current situation, the company may have to undertake load management in some areas to bridge the gap between demand and supply, for which inconvenience is sincerely regretted,” he said.

However, the utility is proactively communicating updates to customers via SMS, and has also uploaded the area-wise load-shed schedule on the KE website for a ready reference. The spokesperson further said that KE remains available to support customers around the clock via its call center 118, SMS service 8119, KE Live App, social media platforms, and KE WhatsApp Self-Service portal.

The KE has also advised the citizens to take precautionary measures to protect themselves and loved ones during the inclement weather. Citizens are advised to keep hydrated and remain in shade during daytime movement outside their premises.