KARACHI - The Supreme Court Thursday directed the K-Electric and Hyderabad Electric Supply Company to submit affidavits to ensure uninterrupted power supply in Karachi and Hyderabad, within one week. Heading a larger bench, Chief Justice Mian Saqib Nisar conducted hearing a suo moto notice here at Karachi Registry, and directed the electric supply companies to make sure that no power plant would be shutdown in the future or else strict action would be taken against them.

Justice Nisar questioned which authority had allowed loadshedding to be carried out in the city, this is a criminal negligence. The court expressed annoyance at the KE and Hesco administrations over prolonged loadshedding in Karachi and Hyderabad. The court barred KE from carrying out unnecessary loadshedding as part of its load management.

The court ordered that a comprehensive plan be devised to eradicate loadshedding. Chief Distribution Officer of K-E appeared before the court and told that they were trying to increase power efficiency through investment; he added that K-E generates 2,950 megawatts of electricity while the demand of the city is 3,500MW, the KE lawyer said that the city is divided into three categories for loadshedding schedule.

The KE counsel stated that the loadshedding was often the result of various faults developing in their systems, which prompted the CJP to ask why there was no backup system in such situations.

The court was told that an operation was being carried out against power thieves. In his remarks, the CJ said that power theft was not behind the short fall of electricity. He added that lack of planning was the main reason of the current crisis; he said that improvement of the quality was needed to generator electricity demand. 

The chief justice said: “Citizens have been suffering due to prolong loadshedding, and so far no initiated has been taken for the betterment.”