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16-hr blackouts spark more violence

Staff Report

KARACHI: People took to the streets Sunday and held up traffic for a major part of the day as Karachi remained shrouded in darkness due to unannounced load shedding.

Two coal-based power-generation plants are being provided to the Karachi Electricity Supply Corporation (KESC) by the federal government. The plants will generate 2,000 MW of electricity. Moreover, eight mobile power generators, each with the capacity of producing one MW, are being provided to the KESC to manage the ongoing power crisis in the city, sources told Daily Times.

Sources said that after the load shedding and the resultant riots continued unabated for quite some time, the Prime Minister’s secretariat directed the federal ministry of water & power to take some immediate measures to solve the issue.

The ministry has therefore decided to handover two coal-based power plants and eight mobile generators for Liaquatabad, Gulashan-e-Iqbal and North Karachi, where load shedding had become routine.

Residents of Malir Town, which was the worst hit by the load shedding for 16 hours, came out early Sunday morning and blocked parts of Shahra-e-Faisal that connected to Kala Board and Model Colony. The police kept reassuring the protestors that electricity would be restored by midday, but the crowd dispersed only after the power supply was restored.

Another area where people fought for power was Liaquatabad Town that remained in the dark since Saturday night. Protestors blocked Shahra-e-Pakistan from Teen Hatti to Daak Khaana Chowk. Riots only stopped once power supply was restored.

Other areas that experienced four to six hours of load shedding were Shah Faisal Colony, Gulbahar, Orangi Town, Garden, PIB Colony, Buffer Zone, various blocks of North Nazimabad, Mauripur, Mehmoodabad and surrounding areas.

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