Millions of Karachi residents faced severe disruptions during Eid al-Adha, as widespread water shortages, gas outages and power outages left families struggling to cook, bathe and preserve food amid the intense heat, according to Dawn.The collapse of basic municipal services has sparked protests in several parts of Pakistan’s financial hub, with residents blocking roads and venting their anger at service providers over prolonged power outages during one of the country’s most important religious festivals.The worst disruptions were reported in gas and electricity supplies, with residents accusing utility companies of failing to deliver promised services despite official assurances that supplies would not be interrupted throughout the three days of the festival.Muhammad Asif, a resident of Federal Area B, said the gas pressure was too low to perform basic cooking tasks. Farida Begum, a resident of North Karachi, said she had to borrow a gas cylinder from her sister to prepare food for her children.“What kind of holiday is this?” I wondered.Residents of Sadr and neighboring areas reported similar difficulties.“I had to take the meat to a restaurant to cook it for my family, and they asked an exorbitant amount,” one resident said.
Defending its performance, a spokesman for Sui Southern Gas Company said that gas supply was maintained uninterrupted during the holiday, and claimed that the utility had not received “any complaints” about the suspension from any part of the city. However, the company acknowledged the decrease in pressure in areas where gas suction devices are widely used.Water shortages exacerbated the crisis. Although the Karachi Water and Sanitation Authority said routine supplies had been restored before Eid, residents in many neighborhoods reported receiving little or no water.“We have not seen a decrease in the last three days,” said Saima Bibi, a resident of Landi.“We bought a tanker for only PKR 8,000 on the occasion of Eid,” she added.A Saudabad resident said her children have not been able to bathe since Chand Raat.“We celebrate Eid to share happiness. This year, we have only shared suffering. This is the Eid of the people of Karachi,” she said dejectedly.Similar complaints emerged from Malir, Gulshan-e-Iqbal, Gulistan-e-Jauhar, Liaquatabad and Old City areas, where families struggled to secure water for daily use.“We had sacrificial meat lying in buckets for hours, but there was no water to wash it,” said a resident of New Karachi.The power outage added to the difficulties faced by residents, although K-Electric confirmed that “unannounced load shedding was not carried out in any part of the city.”Imran Khokhar, a resident of the immigration colony, said, “The electricity continued to play hide-and-seek on the first day of Eid, in addition to the scheduled outages.”A Lyari resident said electricity was available for only six to eight hours during the day, resulting in meat spoiling and difficult living conditions.He said: “The fans died. We sat there sweating. This was our holiday.”As public frustration mounted, officials confirmed that residents in several areas organized demonstrations and closed main roads to protest the prolonged outage of utilities during the Eid holiday.
