KARACHI, June 13: The city witnessed another day of power riots on Wednesday as frustrated residents in several localities took to the streets to vent their anger against the KESC for prolonged power breakdowns. Massive traffic jams were also reported from several city areas as protesters blocked roads, while law-enforcement agencies were reportedly absent from the scene.
On Wednesday night, Sabir Ali, a commuter, called up the Dawn office saying that he was stranded in a traffic jam at Hasan Square for two-and-half hours.
“I attempted to go towards Gharibabad, but protesters blocked the way, burning tyres and pelting stones at the passing traffic. Even small children are on the streets throwing stones at the traffic,” he said, adding that he had called the police help-line but nobody seemed to be interested in controlling the situation.
A police mobile in Gharibabad was set on fire in the evening, while the motorcycle of a UC nazim was also set alight by incensed protesters in the same area. Two protesters were reportedly injured by police firing.
Reports of protests, road blockades and stone-pelting were also received from Pak Colony, Old Golimar, Bhimpura, Golimar, Liaquatabad, Lyari, Baldia Town, Orangi Town, North Nazimabad, Korangi, Saddar, Federal B Area, and other parts of the city.
Severe traffic gridlock was witnessed at Hasan Square and Nipa intersection where commuters remained stranded for two to three hours. Some motorists faced fuel exhaustion as a result of the traffic jam.
Dr Wasif called the Dawn office saying that he had left Ziauddin Hospital for home around 7.15pm, but only managed to reach Nipa at 11pm, from where he was calling. He said that traffic at the Nipa flyover was at a standstill and motorists were driving on the wrong way to avoid the jam.
Similarly traffic chaos was witnessed at Gulshan Chowrangi, while the dug up roads in Gulistan-i-Jauhar brought further misery to the commuters, as long queues of vehicles were stranded at the intersection of Jauhar Mor and Rashid Minhas Road.
Till the filing of this report at midnight, M.A Jinnah Road was still in the grip of severe traffic gridlock.
When contacted, City Police Chief Azhar Farooqi accepted that there was traffic gridlock at several places, attributing the jams to the power riots which, according to him, actually started in the late evening.
He claimed that the traffic and district police were trying to bring the situation under control.
Earlier in the day, power protests by traders in front of the Seventh Day Adventist Hospital in Saddar led to a severe traffic jam in the area, while on Zebunissa Street shopkeepers also took to the streets and lit bonfires on the road, disturbing the traffic flow.
They chanted slogans against the KESC and the city administration for turning a blind eye to the miseries of the people and said that the prolonged power failures have adversely affected their businesses.
UNIT FAILS: However the power problems of Karachi were unlikely to be solved soon as despite the KESC’s assurances over the weekend, yet another unit of the Bin Qasim power plant became non-functional on Wednesday. This caused a huge gap ranging between 200 and 500 megawatts owing to which, apart from the long hours of load-shedding and voltage fluctuation, the city was on the verge of a major water crisis as well.
The effect of plugging the leakage in the boiler of Unit 3 of the Bin Qasim plant was neutralised when Unit 5 developed some unspecified electrical fault in the small hours of Wednesday.
According to sources it would take some time to bring the unit back on-line. The utility has mounted an immediate search for the electrical equipment, both at home and abroad. On the face of it, the problem would persist for a few days.
But the KESC officials were pinning their hopes on the revival of Unit 4, which was re-activated on Wednesday after a major overhaul. It was shut down on February 16 and its reactivation was delayed for various reasons. It would take at least 72 hours to bring it back to optimum generation.
Enraged citizens felt helpless as it seemed no one was coming to their aid. They said that the utility’s complaint centres were not responding either, while they felt shocked that even the minister concerned was giving wrong statements about the power crisis in the city while responding to a call attention notice in the National Assembly.
Traders and concerned citizens were surprised to hear that federal Minister for Water and Power, Liaquat Jatoi, had informed the National Assembly that there is only a shortfall of 139MW in Karachi owing to the closure of three plants of the KESC.
He had also stated that the management of the KESC has assured to restart these plants in the next few days while another plant being set up by the defence forces will start functioning in August.
Consumers were not prepared to take the minister’s promises at face value and said that they were misleading.
Sources in the utility said those responsible for the operations and management of the privatised KESC and those who had designed the pro-Siemens agreement, deliberately leaving out the bonus and penalty clauses, should be penalised and the utility should be retrieved from “plunderers.”
GOVERNOR’S WARNING: Meanwhile, the Sindh Governor, Dr Ishratul Ibad Khan, also warned the KESC to avoid further dereliction in improving the supply of electricity.
In a statement, he said that work should be carried out on a war footing so that immediate relief could be provided to the citizens. He said that the benefits of the Haroonabad high-tension line and Bin Qasim Unit’s rehabilitation should be visible.The governor said that the duration of load-shedding should be reduced in the residential and backward areas of the city. The federal and provincial governments are fully supporting the KESC and efforts are underway to provide it with the required electricity from the Wapda, he said.
The governor said that KESC officials would have to work on an urgent basis to provide relief to the citizens of Karachi.
MMA CONDEMNS: Meanwhile, the Muttahida Majlis-i-Amal’s Sindh chapter has also slammed the acute power crisis in the metropolis.
“Load-shedding is not an issue solely belonging to the Jamaat-i-Islami and the MMA, but a problem for millions of hapless citizens of Karachi, who are left to brave 8-12 hours long power outages daily,” maintained the MMA MNAs Mohammad Hussain Mehnti and Laeeq Khan.
