Replacing kunda system: Power utility starts anti-theft project in Keamari

The areal bundle cable project makes it impossible to steal electricity.

KARACHI: The Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) launched on Tuesday its 90-day aerial bundle cable (ABC) project in Keamari Town to discourage electricity theft.

The ABC project will install special power cables and digital power tariff meters, which are kunda and tampering proof. The new meters will be installed at 36,000 residential units, replacing overlying cables in areas where electricity theft is highly reported.

KESC’s Clifton deputy general manager Waseem Ahmed told The Express Tribune that it is a trial project and if the required results are achieved, it will be extended to the entire city.

“The system makes it impossible to steal electricity and KESC can reduce transmission and distribution loss by 10 per cent,” claimed Ahmed.

In the first phase of the project, KESC will replace seven pole-mounted transformers, while in the second and third phase the remaining 96 PMTs would be replaced.

The project, worth Rs348 million, will initially tackle areas, such as Khushboo Centre, Katchi Mayana, Zarubi Colony, Ibn-e Omar Mohalla, Gulshan-e Sikandar and Taapu. The launch ceremony was held in Gulshan-e Sikandar, where Sindh Transport Minister Akhtar Hussain Khan Jadoon was the chief guest.

Jadoon said the new system will also curtail incidents of electrocution. He urged residents to cooperate with the KESC.

Published in The Express Tribune, February 2^nd, 2011.