According to reports, the protestors chanted slogans against the KESC administration and blamed its privatisation for the deteriorating power situation in the metropolis. In Gulabahar, late on Tuesday night, irate citizens also torched a KESC vehicle and when the firetenders moved to extinguish the fire the mob threatened them to desist.
The Liaquatabad Dakhana stop was blocked by protestors, who pelted stones on vehicles and burnt tyres. The traffic was diverted to Old Golimar where bumper-to-bumper traffic jam was seen right from Urdu Bazar, Nazimabad, to Lasebela chowk. Due to the riots, it took commuters hours to reach their destinations from Nazimabad.
After three hours of protest, police and rangers personnel moved to the spot and brought the situation under control.
Protests had also been witnessed in various areas on late Monday night
Many residential localities of the metropolis continued to suffer prolonged and recurring power failures after every two hours on Tuesday. In addition to long spells of electricity load-shedding, the complaints of breakdown of normalised three-phase supply of electricity, low-voltage and serious fluctuation in voltage supply have been rife in various parts of the city.
Apart from regular and agonisingly prolonged spells of load-shedding, recurring faults and tripping in electricity transmission and distribution systems of the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) have been causing hours-long electricity breakdowns in the night-time.
The night-long power breakdowns have been regularly occurring in residential areas across the city causing serious commotion and unrest among the aggrieved citizens.
The situation of power failures has been equally hitting various pumping stations of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) severely affecting the water supply to various residential towns of the city.
The KESC in the last 24-hours faced maximum 350 Megawatts shortage of electricity in meeting the power demand.
However, the spells of power load shedding and breakdowns continued throughout the day till late evening and inhabitants of various localities of the city had to undergo up to 12-hours without electricity.
Also on Tuesday, the Maripur Grid Station of the KESC developed a major fault at 10 am and electricity in localities hooked to the grid stations including Lyari, Maripur, Baldia Town, and adjoining areas could not be restored till 4 pm.
A major cable fault in electricity transmission and distribution system of Malir hit around 6:30 pm and almost the entire Malir Town was deprived from electricity till late evening. Complaints of similar faults in electricity transmission and distribution systems were also received from numerous residential localities.