Pakistanis angry over rising power cuts

K A R A C H I / P E S H AWA R : Protesters in Pakistan’s largest city set tyres ablaze on Tuesday after power cuts disrupted a traditional pre-dawn meal during Ramadhan, police said, a day after two protesters in another city were shot dead.

Prime Minister Nawaz Sharif came to power four years ago promising to end scheduled blackouts — known as “load shedding” — that have plagued daily life for years, hobbling the economy and deterring foreign investment.

Higher power generation has helped ease load shedding in many areas in recent months, but technical breakdowns in the past week have boosted the frequency and length of blackouts, sparking anger during the blistering late summer months. Protests erupted on Tuesday in Karachi after electricity was cut during the pre-dawn feast Muslims hold before they begin fasting from daybreak to sunset.

Some protesters tried to attack and set fire to an office of the city’s main power provider, K-Electric, said police officer Khadim Ali.

A transmission line had tripped due to high humidity, K-Electric said on social network Twitter, adding that the load shedding would persist for two to three weeks more. It is now back to eight to 10 hours a day in some parts of Karachi.

Murad Ali Shah, chief minister of Sindh and a member of the opposition Pakistan People’s Party (PPP), blamed Sharif ’s government.

— Reuters A boy cools off with others with water from water lines after they punctured them in protest against the outages in their area, in Karachi, on Tuesday.

— AFP A part of a flooded highway exit is seen in a village in Matara.