A MAJOR power breakdown occurred in Karachi early on Friday morning around 5.30 am which engulfed the entire city.

As a citizen and customer of the power utility, I want to know why K-Electric’s performance is going from bad to worse and their unit cost is going up while oil prices are coming down.

I also want to know why the utility is spending such large sums on an operation named Burq to identify and arrest power thieves. Isn’t it well-known who steals electricity in the country and who patronise the Kunda mafia?

When K-Electric was the KESC and run by the government, its performance was much better and there weren’t as many big breakdowns. Why? Now that it is privately run, there is an electricity shutdown in many areas for maintenance once in a week from 9am to 5 pm. Why?

Is there no government authority monitoring the power utility’s performance? It seems there is no law for K-Electric, and all laws are against the consumers. I request the authorities to wake up and take action on behalf of the people.

Moonis Shakil

Karachi

Published in Dawn, January 30th, 2016