KARACHI: As the Met department alerted that the almost all parts of Sindh province, including Karachi, are likely to be gripped by heatwave from Wednesday, the K-Electric has increased duration of loadshedding.

       It was stated by the Met department on Monday that the prevailing severe heatwave over central and upper parts of Sindh will grip the entire province from May 11 which will last till May 16.

       “Daytime maximum temperature would rise to 46-48°C in Dadu, Sukkur, Larkana, Jacobabad, Sha-heed Benazirabad, Nausha-hro Feroze, Khairpur, Shikarpur and Ghotki districts, and 43-45°C in Jam-shoro, Hyderabad, Badin, Thatta, Mirpurkhas and Umerkot districts during the period,” the Met department’s advisory said.

       The maximum temperature in Karachi might also rise to 38-40°C on May 13 and 14, it added.

       “Very hot and dry conditions may cause stress on crops, vegetables and orchards and increase energy demand. Farmers are advised to manage their crops. The public is advised to avoid open sun exposure as much as possible, especially during peak warm hours,” the advisory stated.

       The maximum temperature recorded in Karachi was 35.2°C with 61 per cent relative humidity.

       Loadshedding increased

       While the city has been having sweltering weather for the past few days, the K-Electric has increased the duration of loadshedding in different part of the city.

       The power utility said that that the duration of power cut down in parts of the city was extended mainly due to electricity shortfall that had reached 300MW to 400MW.

       The localities falling under KE’s “high-loss areas” were the worst affected where power supply remained suspended up to 12 hours in intervals. The areas exempted from load management also experienced frequent power outages of two hours at least twice in 24 hours.

       The situation aggravated after the power supply from the national grid to Karachi curtailed by 300MW.

       Later, the situation improved for a couple of days after supply was increased to 1,000MW.

       The KE said that it had to resort to two-hour loadshedding in parts of the city as its production capacity was being affected due to shortage of fuel.

       Residents from different localities reported to Dawn that they had been intimated by the power utility that there would be two-hour loadshedding in their respective localities from Tuesday (today).

       Published in Dawn,May 10th, 2022