Karachi and K-Electric - a flickering bond.

KARACHI -- More than a decade has passed since K-Electric's privatisation, but people of Karachi still endure prolonged load-shedding, which has also hampered trade and economic activities.

In the current scenario where the Covid-19 outbreak has dealt a blow to the economy, the blackouts have compounded the problem.

The sole purpose of privatising Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC), now K-Electric, was to avoid prolonged power outages in the country's financial capital in an attempt to give a boost to economic activities and allow people to spend their life in a normal way.

However, frequent interruptions in electricity supply have not gone, and the situation may have worsened in many cases.

Not only power tariffs have been enhanced significantly, the quality of services provided to consumers has also become unsatisfactory. At present, some areas are facing blackouts for 8-10 hours a day, including those industrial, commercial and residential consumers who pay bills on time.

Inflated consumer bills with the economy still reeling from the coronavirus crisis and electrocution incidents during current rains have brought more misery. The power utility's transmission and distribution system is so fragile that it cannot afford to supply the required 3,500-4,000 megawatts of electricity, which would end load-shedding, to over 2.5 million industrial, commercial and household consumers in the city and some parts of upper Sindh and Balochistan. This comes despite higher supply from the national grid.

However, credit goes to K-Electric for successfully managing to turn the company from a loss-making to a profitable concern, thanks to tariff hikes and fuel price adjustments. K-Electric shareholders may be happy with the development but citizens of Karachi are certainly not. Residents in different parts of the port city have staged protests against the persistent load-shedding. Industrial and commercial consumers, who pay comparatively higher tariffs and over 99% of them pay bills, have also demanded that the government take action to overcome the power crisis.

The utility insists that the power crisis partly stems from short supply of fuel (furnace oil and gas) and low output from wind-based power generators.

The crisis

Pakistan Electric Power Company's (Pepco) former managing director and power sector expert Tariq Basharat Cheema was of the view that roots of the power crisis in Karachi could be found in K-Electric's privatisation.

'They (the...