Karachi faces up to 24-hour blackouts, sparking criticism of K-Electric

A recent gathering at the Karachi Press Club, organized by the Civil Society Collective for Clean Energy for Karachi, drew attention to extensive electricity shortages across the metropolis. In areas such as North Karachi, Nazimabad and Gulistan-i-Jauhar, residents reported losing power for periods ranging from 16 to 24 hours, with similar disruptions noted in Lyari and other parts of the old city. Speakers argued that these prolonged outages hinder basic domestic activities, education, employment, and compromise water availability and personal hygiene.

K-Electric’s publicly released outage schedule shows over 615 feeders scheduled for cuts of up to 12 hours daily, a figure that could impact roughly one-third of the city’s distribution network. Qazi Khizer of the Human Rights Commission of Pakistan emphasized the severe impact on working-class families and rising mental stress, urging that electricity be treated as an essential service. Meanwhile, Tahir Hassan Khan, president of the Karachi Union of Journalists, questioned whether the privatization of K-Electric has delivered the promised improvements in service reliability.