ISLAMABAD: The National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (NEPRA) announced on to hold a public hearing on July 10 as the persistent load-shedding crisis continues to test Karachiites’ patience in the sweltering heat.
The authority said it would hold a public hearing via the mobile app Zoom due to the coronavirus pandemic. Citizens can be a part of the hearing by writing an email to the NEPRA registrar, after which they will be provided a password for the session.
NEPRA said extreme loadshedding has been causing a lot of difficulties for Karachiites.
The announcement by the regulator comes as Karachiites face prolonged power outages since the start of the summer.
According to media, Surjani Town, Gadap, Gharo, Kathor areas of Karachi’s electricity is yet to be restored. While certain areas of Defence also faced power outages due to the rain.
Electricity in Karachi’s Lines Area has also been without electricity since the last 14 hours.
Meanwhile, a spokesperson for the K-Electric has stated that the company is working to restore electricity in the affected areas. The spokesperson stated that they are facing difficulties due to the rainwater accumulated in certain areas of the city.
On the other hand, the Pakistan Tehreek-e Insaf (PTI) have already set up a protest camp outside the office of the against the K-Electric office to show their anger against the power supply company for prolonged load-shedding and overbilling.
On the first day of the protest on Monday, MNAs Aftab Siddiqui, Aslam Khan, Aftab Jahangir, Nusrat Wahid and MPAs Haleem Adil Sheikh, Jamal Siddiqui, Dr Saeed Afridi, Raja Azhar, Karim Bux Gabol, Ali Aziz G.G, Rabistan Khan, Shahnawaz Jadoon and others were in attendance.
They shouted slogans against “the exploitation of power consumers of Karachi by the KE and showed their displeasure against the cruel monopoly of the KE over the power sector of the mega city of Karachi”, said a party statement.
The protesters expressed their anger against the power utility for “turning the city of lights into a city of darkness” and criticised the power company’s management for becoming a source of misery for Karachiites.
Meanwhile, Sindh Energy Minister Imtiaz Ahmed Shaikh on Monday also said that the Sindh government is ready to assume the control of three power supply companies of the province, namely the K-Electric (KE), the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco), and the Sukkur Electric Power Company (Sepco), if the federal government was unable to manage the institutions of the energy sector in the country.
