A row over unpaid bills sparked a huge power blackout in Pakistan's biggest city, Karachi, leaving most of its 12 million residents without electricity yesterday, officials said.
The outage came after Pakistan's main power utility accused the electricity company supplying the southern port of refusing to settle debts of more than half a million dollars.
It affected bazaars, businesses and homes in the normally bustling economic hub and caused huge traffic jams as signals went out of order, witnesses said.
"KESC [Karachi Electric Supply Co] owes 34.8 billion rupees [US$548 million] to us, which they have avoided paying for many months," said Tahir Bisharat Cheema, the director general of the supply and management wing of the country's Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA).
He said the company only repaid 250 million rupees despite weekly reminders "to which they never replied."
"We sent them a final reminder on Wednesday and informed them that we would stop supplying electricity if the longstanding dues were not paid," Cheema said.
Karachi has a history of frequent powercuts, but they usually only affect certain districts for a few hours at a time. Many businesses have generators, but private households rarely do.
"We have got a small generator for our house, but it has proved highly expensive today because we don't know when power is going to come back," said Gulzar Ahmed, who lives in the middle class Liaquatabad neighborhood.
The city's power company said supplies were returning to about a third of the city later yesterday, but it accused the national utility of failing to warn it about the shutoff.
"They suddenly stopped supplying 300 megawatts to Karachi at 8am and the power supply fell to virtually zero," KESC spokesman Sultan Hassan said.
"KESC staff are making efforts to restore electricity supply but it needs WAPDA supplies resumed first" he said.
Pakistan suffered major outages earlier this year, which authorities blamed on a lack of water for hydropower facilities.
SECURITY: As China is ‘reshaping’ Hong Kong’s population, Taiwan must raise the eligibility threshold for applications from Hong Kongers, Chiu Chui-cheng said When Hong Kong and Macau citizens apply for residency in Taiwan, it would be under a new category that includes a “national security observation period,” Mainland Affairs Council (MAC) Minister Chiu Chui-cheng (邱垂正) said yesterday. President William Lai (賴清德) on March 13 announced 17 strategies to counter China’s aggression toward Taiwan, including incorporating national security considerations into the review process for residency applications from Hong Kong and Macau citizens. The situation in Hong Kong is constantly changing, Chiu said to media yesterday on the sidelines of the Taipei Technology Run hosted by the Taipei Neihu Technology Park Development Association. With
CARROT AND STICK: While unrelenting in its military threats, China attracted nearly 40,000 Taiwanese to over 400 business events last year Nearly 40,000 Taiwanese last year joined industry events in China, such as conferences and trade fairs, supported by the Chinese government, a study showed yesterday, as Beijing ramps up a charm offensive toward Taipei alongside military pressure. China has long taken a carrot-and-stick approach to Taiwan, threatening it with the prospect of military action while reaching out to those it believes are amenable to Beijing’s point of view. Taiwanese security officials are wary of what they see as Beijing’s influence campaigns to sway public opinion after Taipei and Beijing gradually resumed travel links halted by the COVID-19 pandemic, but the scale of
A US Marine Corps regiment equipped with Naval Strike Missiles (NSM) is set to participate in the upcoming Balikatan 25 exercise in the Luzon Strait, marking the system’s first-ever deployment in the Philippines. US and Philippine officials have separately confirmed that the Navy Marine Expeditionary Ship Interdiction System (NMESIS) — the mobile launch platform for the Naval Strike Missile — would take part in the joint exercise. The missiles are being deployed to “a strategic first island chain chokepoint” in the waters between Taiwan proper and the Philippines, US-based Naval News reported. “The Luzon Strait and Bashi Channel represent a critical access
Pope Francis is be laid to rest on Saturday after lying in state for three days in St Peter’s Basilica, where the faithful are expected to flock to pay their respects to history’s first Latin American pontiff. The cardinals met yesterday in the Vatican’s synod hall to chart the next steps before a conclave begins to choose Francis’ successor, as condolences poured in from around the world. According to current norms, the conclave must begin between May 5 and 10. The cardinals set the funeral for Saturday at 10am in St Peter’s Square, to be celebrated by the dean of the College
RSS