Governor's intervention may bring respite for power-starved city.

KARACHI -- Amid growing complaints of unannounced loadshedding in the prevailing hot and humid weather as well as consistent overbilling despite shrinking income of the pandemic-hit people, Sindh Governor Imran Ismail intervened on Friday and asked K-Electric (KE) authorities to fix the problem within next 24 hours, blaming the power utility for not investing in its system to improve its performance.

The fresh move came when the Sindh governor expressed his 'displeasure and anger' in a meeting with the KE chief executive officer, Monis Abdullah Alvi, who called on him at the Governor House.

'The Sindh governor expressed his displeasure over the unannounced loadshedding in the city by KE and said that it was tantamount to severe injustice with the residents of Karachi,' said a statement issued by the Governor House after the meeting.

'The Sindh governor has directed the KE CEO to rectify the situation and provide relief to the citizens as soon as possible.'

KE chief assures Imran Ismail that crisis will be overcome in next 48 hours

He further said that additional gas was being provided to the KE by the federal government, but despite this it's a matter of concern that such a situation emerges.

Governor Ismail during his meeting with the KE chief came up with facts and numbers which apparently negated the claims made by the power utility as an excuse to carry out its unannounced loadshedding plan.

Additional furnace oil to KE promised

He assured the KE management that additional furnace oil would be provided to the company from Hubco.

'The federal government is bound to provide 650 MW to K-Electric while for the convenience of the citizens of Karachi, the federal government is ready to provide additional 500 MW electricity. But due to non-investment in the system, the KE does not have capacity to handle extra 500 Megawatts,' the statement quoted the Sindh governor as...