News
Saturday, May 21, 2011
Massive power outages continue to plague KarachiKARACHI: Massive power load shedding continued to plague the city on Friday, causing unrest among citizens.
Angry people blocked II Chundrigar Road and other routes in Bara Board and Orangi Town areas. They also burnt old tyres in protest against the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) for carrying out massive power load shedding in the city.
The citizens were irked by crippling power outages caused due to ongoing tussle between the KESC administration and the CBA Union over their interests.
Karachi Tajir Ittehad (KTI) leaders expressed solidarity with the KESC employees observing hunger strike outside the Karachi Press Cub. KTI president Atiq Mir alleged that the KESC administration was not considering the problems faced by citizens and was busy in achieving its own interests.
He demanded immediate restoration of electricity in affected areas of the city. Mir urged the KESC administration to mend their ways and resolve the issue with CBA union.
The protests were held against the KESC in Orangi Town, Bara Board, Pak Colony, Azeem Pura, Ranchore Lane, Keamari, Gulbahar, Nazimabad, North Nazimabad and North Karachi. The social and business life was badly affected in these areas.
The personnel of law enforcement agencies used baton-charge on protesters and dispersed them. The shopkeepers blocked II Chundigar Road for four hours, staged a sit-in and also burnt old tyres to show anger against the KESC. The protesters said they faced hardships in earning the livelihood for their families due to massive power outages.
KESC CBA Union press secretary Karamat Hussain informed that it was the need of the hour that the government should immediately reconsider the KESC privatisation, if they wanted to save people from suicides, joblessness and unemployment. He added that the workers of the KESC had skill to run the utility.
A KESC spokesman said that they had received a positive response from many employees observing the strike. They individually contacted the management to express their support for normalising all outstanding complaints and faults, he added. Meanwhile, the CBA Union activists sabotaged KESC services and fault repair work. In North Nazimabad late Thursday night, a group of armed miscreants opened fire on the main gate of Abu Zar Maintenance Centre. Fortunately, none of the employees present at the office was at the main gate at that time. No body was hurt in the incident. This office has been efficiently resolving public complaints and there was no backlog of local faults there.
Two unidentified men riding a motorcycle opened fire on a KESC complaint office in Block-K, North Nazimabad. However, no one was injured in the incident. The police rushed to the scene but culprits managed to flee from the scene. atif raza
Courtesy www.dailytimes.com.pk