Pakistan: Karachi residents protest against power outage by blocking roads

Karachi [Pakistan], September 11 : Thousands of commuters and motorists were caught in traffic jams on major thoroughfares as residents of Punjab Colony and Gizri area in Karachi, held protests against ongoing power outages by blocking both lanes of the main road leading to Boat Basin and Sunset Boulevard, Pakistan-based Dawn reported.
Speaking to Dawn, DIG-South Syed Asad Raza said that the residents blocked the main road near Punjab Colony on Tuesday morning.
He noted that discussions were held with the protesters, and representatives from Karachi Electricity were invited to seek a resolution to the issue. He said police have taken no action as the protestors did not resort to violence.
Another officer, South-SSP Sajid Amir Sadozai, said that the road was blocked for some hours on Tuesday. He further said that some people also blocked the road near the underpass at Gizri leading towards Sunset Boulevard on Monday night two or three times.
Residents reportedly held similar protests on Mauripur Road and at the main Shaheen Complex roundabout on Monday night also.
Over the past 24 hours, similar demonstrations have been held in areas adjacent to the Railway Colony, where the outstanding amount is more than Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 150 million.
In a statement, a Karachi-Electric (KE) spokesperson said that the "aggressive anti-theft crackdown" across the city was being resisted by the "kunda mafia," who were blocking roads and disrupting traffic to protect their illegal connections and avoid settling their outstanding dues.
"Recent incidents in Gizri, Punjab Colony, and nearby areas aim to undermine K-Electric's efforts to dismantle illegal connections from load-shedding-free feeders. During one such targeted operation in Punjab Colony, KE teams faced violent retaliation from armed assailants who tried to prevent the removal of illegal connections and harassed staff at gunpoint," the spokesperson said.
Earlier in August, K-Electric announced that electricity consumers in Pakistan's Karachi are set to get an inflated electricity bill in August, ARY News reported.
The notification said the bills would be inclusive of three-month adjustments, causing customers to pay up to Pakistani Rupees (PKR) 3.22 per unit, ARY News reported.
The added charges for this year's adjustment will be PKR 0.93 per unit from January to March.
K-Electric is seeking to further adjust charges for May by PKR 2.53 per unit and PKR 2.92 for June. The added charges from last year will be PKR 0.66 for the August 2023 adjustment, PKR 1.77 per unit for the November 2023 adjustment, and PKR 0.79 per unit for the December 2023 adjustment.