K-Electric CEO Syed Moonis Abdullah Alvi lost his temper with Sindh Assembly lawmakers when they grilled him over hours-long load shedding in the city.

He appeared in the parliamentary committee on Thursday following an apparent threat from Sindh Interior Minister Zia Lanjar.

In the recent past, residents from several areas in the city turned to streets against hours-long load shedding and lack of water supply. Such protests occurred when the city endured sweltering hot weather when the “feel-like temperate” increased to 50 degrees Celsius.

In June, the provincial government directed the city’s primary electricity provider to refrain from night-time load shedding in the country’s financial hub. Sindh Energy Minister Nasir Hussain Shah and Local Government Minister Saeed Ghani called on the KE not to suspend power supply in the city between 10pm and 6am.

On Wednesday, Dawn reported that the provincial assembly’s Public Accounts Committee recommended the initiation of action against the KE for its refusal to pay the government its outstanding dues worth over Rs29 billion.

“We surrender; cancel our licence and let the government supply electricity itself,” the KE CEO said at a moment in the parliamentary meeting. He added that while load shedding occurs under the regulator’s watch, it does not set the rates, leaving committee members “silent” in response.

PTI MPA Muhammad Shabbir Qureshi criticised Alvi, claiming that the KE CEO was imposing load shedding on the people and justifying it by citing electricity theft. “You have the resources to stop power theft.”

Qureshi said: “You are not accountable to anyone and you shift the burden of electricity theft onto the public.”

PPP lawmaker Muhammad Farooq Awan expressed concern over the water supply issues in Karachi. He noted that although the previous meeting was held in a “positive atmosphere,” the agreements reached have not been implemented. He criticised the perception that the Jamaat-e-Islami was viewed as an “adversary.”

Farooq stated that the specific problem of water supply from the Dumloti area, which serves three districts but suffers from 18 hours of load shedding. He pointed out that there were also issues at the Malir Cantonment water pump, where the similar problem occurred, causing further complications in water distribution.

He raised questions about the existing billing system, stating that the government has “failed to create a system” that distinguishes between those who pay their water bills and those who do not. He argued that if 40 out of 100 consumers did not pay their bills, it was unfair for the remaining 60 to face penalties.

Also, read this

Massive traffic jams in Karachi as residents protest electricity outage

Here’s how expensive Karachi’s electricity became in the last year

Functioning ‘nervous system’ a must for Pakistan: economist Atif Mian

He proposed that water pumps should be exempted from power cuts to ensure a continuous supply of water.

In response, Sindh government spokesperson Sadia Javed acknowledged the complaints regarding KE and stressed the need for solutions to the issues at hand. She urged attendants to propose practical solutions to the problems.