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How fragile our power supply system is?
RESIDENTS of Karachi once
again had a prolonged agony when the city experienced two days of power
blackout on Wednesday and Thursday forcing people to sleep on roads. No
exact figures are available but losses to businesses, trade and industry
were worth billions of rupees.
There is no plausible explanation as to what went wrong except that the
system was damaged near Dadu due to windstorms. This shows vulnerability
of the power system and our failure to reinforce and replace it to keep
pace with the increasing load and technological developments. The worst
ever power breakdown made life of Karachiites miserable and failure of
the KESC to rectify the fault promptly has led to demands for takeover
of the company by the Government and probing of its affairs. The problem
is there for years but regrettably no remedial measures were taken by
the successive Governments. There is huge gap between demand and supply
that frequently leads to breakdowns due to pressure on the system.
Similarly, WAPDA and KESC transmission lines, grid stations and
transformers badly need replacement and upgradation but despite tall
claims no worthwhile progress has been made towards this end. In
Karachi, there is also widespread theft and pilferage of power and
authorities have failed to plug them. No doubt, KESC management ought to
make necessary investments for improvement of the system but no amount
of investment would change the situation if Kunda culture remains in
place.
