Jamaat-e-Islami on Sunday demanded an immediate end to prolonged and unannounced Lyari load-shedding, a forensic audit of K-Electric, and a clear account of money announced to repair the area’s civic infrastructure.
Speaking at a press conference at Aath Chowk in Lyari Town, JI Karachi chief Monem Zafar, with District South chief Sufyan Dilawar, said residents must receive a proper supply of electricity, water and other basic services. He described labour-class neighbourhoods as especially neglected even though Karachi, Pakistan’s largest city, contributes heavily to the national economy and public revenue.
Outages and the call for a KE audit
Zafar said Lyari was enduring 18 to 20 hours of the worst load-shedding, leaving people in severe hardship. In some localities, he said, supply lasts only four to six hours in a full day.
He argued that entire neighbourhoods should not lose power because some consumers steal electricity or skip bills. Many residents pay regularly, he said, and cutting them off is unjust. Privatisation was supposed to improve supply and stop load-shedding, he added, yet long outages continue in several parts of the city.
According to the JI leader, K-Electric is receiving a subsidy of Rs164 billion this year and has been given Rs1,500 billion since it was privatised. He said the utility should be held accountable and its performance fully audited.
Questions over Lyari project funds
Zafar pointed to a Rs25.28 billion Lyari Transformation Project that was announced for municipal rehabilitation, saying the area still looks ruined. He asked the Sindh government to say where that sum was spent and what tangible change it produced.
He compared the situation to what he called earlier disappointment over the Greater Plan for Karachi. He also cited a newly built road in Hyderabad nicknamed the “road of poles” because electricity poles stand in the middle; a provincial spokesman apologised, he said, while Chief Minister Murad Ali Shah linked it to the Greater Plan. Zafar asked whether Lyari’s decay was also treated as part of that plan.
Political promises and local conditions
He noted that the PPP, MQM and PML-N share power at the Centre, and that the PPP has governed Sindh for 18 years. Before the last general elections, he recalled, the PPP chairman had pledged 300 free electricity units if the party won, while Maryam Nawaz had promised 200 free units in Punjab. People in Lyari, he said, are now asking what became of those claims.
Lyari was once known for sports and hardworking people, Zafar said, but is now associated with long outages, drug peddling, armed groups and broken infrastructure. He alleged drug trading under official patronage and said labourers who struggle to feed their families are among those most affected.
Aasan alfaaz mein
Jamaat-e-Islami ne kaha hai ke Lyari mein bina elaan ke lambi load-shedding turant band ho. Unke mutabiq kuch ilaqon mein 18 se 20 ghante bijli nahi milti, aur kai logon ko din mein sirf 4 se 6 ghante bijli milti hai. Party K-Electric ka forensic audit aur Lyari Transformation Project ke Rs25.28 arab ke hisaab ki maang karti hai. Aam logon ke liye matlab yeh hai ke garmi, paani pump, dukanain aur bachon ki padhai pe bijli ki kami seedha asar daalti hai.
