News
Monday, June 13, 2011
Karachiites pass sleepless nights as load shedding rises
* KESC management blamed for suffering of Karachiites
KARACHI: Hapless citizens of Karachi on Sunday faced immense troubles in hot and humid weather, as Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) further increased its tormenting load shedding. In some areas the consumers even braved no-electricity situation in night hours and passed sleepless and agonising nights.
On the night between Saturday and Sunday, Sachal Goth and surrounding areas of Union Council-12 Gulshan-e-Iqbal town braved electricity outage from the evening till Fajar prayer calls.
Elderly people, small children, women and men equally braved a torturous situation in hot and humid weather and cured their fate. Same situation was witnessed in many other areas of the city, where hours-long load shedding created acute shortage of water.
According to many judgments of the apex courts of Pakistan the provision of water and electricity is the basic life right of citizens; sadly, the government seemed least concerned that these very basic and vital rights of people are being openly violated by a private firm.
Strangely, the consumers do not get electricity for 10 to 12 hours a day, but the electricity bills sent to them shows monthly charges of several thousands of rupees. The baffled citizens are at loss of understanding why they are being fleeced in the crude and cruel manner in a country with an elected government, independent judiciary and free media. The matters of prolonged load shedding and huge bills without actual metre reading are being hotly discussed in street corners and tea stalls and people really feel this is a ‘white collar crime’ against them. They suspect the ruling authorities have given a free hand for this ‘corporate looting’ of consumers.
They ask why the government is giving subsidies of billions of rupees to the KESC, which is not a citizens-friendly humanitarian service provider entity, a privately owned and profit-oriented firm.
They ask whether this is a reward for bad performance or a political nepotism at the cost of taxpayers’ money. They said when the citizens have to pay indirect tax on almost every item they buy and they do not get any subsidy even on basic food items, why such whopping subsidies are being doled out to a private firm, whose profits, they suspect, go in the foreign hands.
Not only common citizens but also political and labour activists decry the prolonged load shedding, excessive billing and unjustified subsidies to the KESC. Pakistan People’s Party leader and People Workers Union KESC chapter General Secretary Latif Mughal says the KESC gets subsidies of billions of rupees from the federal government in the name of Karachiites, but it has failed to either serve its consumers or doing justice to its workers.
In a statement, he blames the private management of the KESC is responsible for the suffering of Karachiites. He says after the privatisation the KESC started to close furnace oil-run power plants and begin to depend on cheap gas-run plants. It is saving huge costs but the benefit is not transferred to the consumers.
He alleges the KESC black mails the federal government and gets huge subsidies in the tune of billions of rupees. He claims the federal government is providing furnace oil to this private company on hugely subsidised rates. He charges that the KESC was not properly paying the bills of Water & Power Development Authority, oil companies, Pakistan State Oil and Sui Southern Gas Company.
Mughal regretted despite all this goodies enjoyed by the KESC, no benefit is being provided to Karachiites who brave hours-long load shedding on one hand and pay neck-breaking power bills on the other. He said the announced and unannounced load shedding has made the life miserable for citizens, besides dealing a fatal blow to industry and trade. ppi
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk