Pakistan: Unannounced power cuts last up to 6 hours in Karachi

Power outages piled up misery in Pakistan's Karachi in scorching heat as the main power provider of the city failed to meet its electricity consumption needs.

K-Electric is carrying out unannounced load shedding in the port city. Different areas of the metropolis, including Federal B Area, are facing six hours of unannounced load shedding, Geo News reported.

Several areas, including those exempt from load sheddings, such as North Karachi, Liaquatabad, North Nazimabad, Nazimabad, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Korangi and Clifton are facing interruptions in power supply.

The power utility reiterated that they have not enhanced the span of power outages in the city nor made any change in the load shedding schedule.

Earlier this week, the KE announced that the first unit of K-Electric's Bin Qasim Power Station 3 (BQPS-III) is currently offline following a fault identified during a test. It said, however, that no additional load-shedding will be carried out, according to Geo News.

"Currently, the power supply to the city is as per the routine schedule announced on June 30 2022 and available on the KE website," according to the statement.

Pakistan is facing an escalation of its power crisis after it failed to agree on a deal for natural gas supply next month. Tenders for July were scrapped due to high prices and low participation as the nation is already taking action to tackle widespread blackouts.

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Pakistan's government is attempting to boost energy conservation, has cut working hours for public servants and ordered shopping malls to factories to shut early in various cities, including Karachi.

Prime Minister Shehbaz Sharif-led incumbent government had earlier pledged to surmount the issue of power shortfall. Last month, PM Shehbaz said the federal government was making all-out efforts to revive the stalled power plants to put an end to the huge energy crisis faced by the country, reported Geo News.

• Pakistan