“Prolonged electricity load shedding in Karachi for last few years has badly damaged its economy,” Ms. Sharmila Faruqui, the Information Secretary Pakistan Peoples’ Party (PPP) Women Wing Sindh said this while talking to a delegation of party activists on Monday adding that national economy of the country depended on economy of metropolis and that was whey the load shedding was not only affecting city economy but of the entire country.

She said that economy of the city was crumbling because of undeclared and prolonged power load shedding adding that the load shedding had created a lot of problems for Karachiites and had become a nightmare for the locals.

“The 10 to 18 hours daily load shedding has caused closure of hundreds of industrial units in eight industrial zones of Karachi which has rendered thousands of industrial workers unemployed,” she observed.

She said that it was truth that load shedding had been robbing jobs from hundreds of thousands of daily wagers of the metropolis.
She added that cruel acts of KESC had been pushing the economy to horrible destruction.

She said that under a pre-planned conspiracy, the KESC had put the economic survival of the country on stake.

“We do not take power load shedding due to a financial problem of KESC but a negligence being committed by the KESC administration to menace Karachiites”, she said.

Doctors of government and private hospitals in Karachi told me that hundreds of cases of various illness caused by hot weather were being reported due to power outages, as the people could not save them from scorching hot weather, she said.

She added that doctors had further told that every year, thousand of children suffered from diseases caused by sizzling hot weather were admitted to hospitals adding that hours-long power load management was major cause of ailment of those children.

She noted that students were facing a terrible time in preparation of their examinations thanks to power load shedding.

“After every couple of hours, there are a spell of load shedding in every area of Karachi which has made citizens, the patients suffering from depression, tension and anxiety,” she said.

She raised question why the KESC used to dispatch heavy bills to consumers while it was carrying out 10 to 18 hours load shedding on daily basis.

She said that it was a serious human issue and the relevant stakeholders should take it with realistic approach with making practical endeavors to resolve it so that millions of Karachiites could get rid of this nightmare.