Karachi in black out over unpaid bills
Bureau Report

Karachi—The Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) on Thursday morning suspended power supply to the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) due to non-payment of outstanding dues forcing the latter to resort to loadshedding ranging from 4 to 6 hours in almost 80 per cent areas of the city. The suspension of power supply later resulted in tripping of all the units of Bin Qasim, Korangi, and KANNUP power stations due to overloading causing massive power breakdowns in various parts of the metropolis.
The KESC shifted the load to respective power stations after suspension of supply from national grid station at 8 am, which resulted in immediate tripping of the three power stations. The power supply to the KESC was restored after four hours on the intervention of the federal government, the KESC sources told Online. However, power supply to many areas remained disturbed till the filing of this report owing to tripping of Bin Qasim power station.
The KESC sources said that power supply from KANNUP would be restored at least after 36 hours. The worst affected areas were Clifton, Defense, North Nazimabad, Nazimabad, Landhi, Malir, F.B Area, Liaquatabad, Korangi, Oragni, Shershah, and Baldia Town.
The director general of National Transmission and Dispatch Company (NTDC), a sister company of Wapda, Major Tahir told reporters that the KESC had to pay off outstanding dues to the tune of Rs 35 billion to Wapda.
“ Notices were being issued to the KESC for payment of outstanding dues for last three months, however the corporation did nothing in this regard forcing Wapda to take such step”, he said. The KESC management contacted the ministry of water and power authorities and informed them about the power crisis in the city. On the intervention of the ministry, power supply from Wapda to KESC was restored at 12 am.
Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) has suspended electricity to Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC) due to non-payment of dues amounting to Rs. 35 billion. The electricity was suspended to KESC after approval of the Federal Government. After power suspension, all the power stations in Karachi were tripped.
The people living in Karachi had to face enormous inconvenience due to power suspension while Caretaker Prime Minister Mianmuhammad Soomro has taken immediate notice of the issue. Director General PEPCO Tahir Basharat, which manages Wapda’s power wing, said supplies were cut because of non-payment of dues.
“KESC owes 34.80 billion rupees ($554 million) to us and we have been writing to them every week to make at least some payments to us,” said Basharat Cheema. “But let alone making payments, they’re not even replying to our letters,” he said. However, Cheema said supply of 250 megawatts of electricity have been started to Karachi Electric Supply Corporation (KESC).
Earlier, Sources in WAPDA said that the power was suspended to Karachi after fault in transmission line near Jamshoro, Hyderabad Electric Supply Company while well inform sources said the action was taken to notify KESC that such type of action can be taken in case of non-payment. WAPDA used to provide 225 to 250 megawatts of electricity to the KESC instead of 300 megawatts, source said. Official sources confirmed that KESC owes Rs. 35 billion to WAPDA.
On the other hand, Caretaker Prime Minister Mianmuhammad Soomro has taken notice of the issue and contacted Caretaker Federal Water and Power Minister Ismail Qureshi. The caretaker Prime Minister directed Ismail Qureshi to take immediate steps for restoration of powers in Karachi.
The Pakistan Electric Power Company has restored electricity to the Karachi Electric Supply Corporation notifying the government of a likely electric breakdown in case on non-payment of dues by the KESC.
According to a press release issued here by the spokesman of Pepco, 19 notices were served to the KESC and a final notice was given on March 5 asking KESC to pay dues worth Rs. 3 billion out of Rs. 35 billion to the Pepco by March 6, however, only 360-mw electricity was disconnected upon non-payment.
He said blaming Pepco for Karachi electricity crisis was not fair. The Spokesman said KESC was responsible for failure of electricity system and it should be investigated. The spokesman said electricity was restored after the instructions of government.