PM Abbasi summons meeting to discuss Karachi’s power crisis

ISLAMABAD: Taking notice of the persistent load-shedding in Karachi, Prime Minister Shahid Khaqan Abbasi has summoned a meeting of the Cabinet Committee on Energy on April 23, Geo News reported Saturday morning.

The premier noted that the problem needs to be solved and called a meeting to discuss the issues.

Therefore, the Cabinet Committee on Energy will convene on April 23 in a special session to discuss the ongoing power cut issues in Karachi, for which K-Electric, the metropolis' main power supplier, has received a lot of flak. 

Since the last few weeks, Karachi has been facing severe load-shedding after K-Electric said the Sui Southern Gas Company has curbed supply and it is thus unable to produce the required amount of power. The gas company claims KE owes it millions in dues and will restore supply once the payments are made. 

The residents bear the brunt of the tug-of-war as prolonged power cuts have continued to plague Karachi, with previously exempted areas being subjected to six hours of load-shedding every day.

The areas most affected by the ongoing power crisis include blocks 8, 9, 10, 13 and 14 of Federal B Area, C-1, C and No. 10 localities of Liaquatabad, Orangi Town, Korangi, Safoora Goth, Scheme 33, Abul Hasan Isphahani Road, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Malir, Model Colony, New Karachi and North Karachi.

Owing to the power cuts, the work in government and private offices is being affected. In the courts, officials were seen using torches of their mobile phones to write in the dark whereas suspects brought for hearings seemed to be in a miserable state due to the heat.

On Thursday, the officials of the National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) briefed the National Assembly’s Standing Committee on Cabinet Secretariat and held KE responsible for the ongoing power cuts in Karachi.

Karachiites take to streets over power woes 

After being troubled by weeks of prolonged outages, Karachiites took to streets in protest against the K-Electric on Friday demanding an end to unannounced load-shedding in the megapolis.

Jamaat-e-Islami organised a protest over prolonged power cuts outside the Karachi Press Club on Friday, which was attended by a large number of citizens troubled by weeks-long outages.

Addressing the protesters, JI Karachi emir Hafiz Naeemur Rehman announced a shutter-down strike in protest against K-Electric on April 27.

He said that load-shedding was an issue of 25 million people of the city and urged the chief justice of Pakistan to take notice of it.

The JI Karachi emir also criticised Pak Sarzameen Party (PSP) saying that the ones who sold the K-Electric were staging protest against it today.

Jamaat-e-Islami had previously announced a protest demonstration on the issue outside the CM House, however, the venue for the sit-in was changed following a meeting between JI leaders and CM Murad Ali Shah.