Sans power: Winter brings additional gloom for Larkana residents
SEPCO provides electricity for four hours to rural areas
SEPCO provides electricity for four hours to rural areas. PHOTOS: WASEEM NAZIR/EXPRESS
LARKANA:
It has been an exceptionally harsh winter for the people of Larkana, especially those residing in rural areas, as they have been deprived of electricity for around 20 hours every day.
According to residents, the Sukkur Electric Power Company (Sepco) only supplies electricity for four hours a day, forcing people to make do on their own for the remaining time. This reversal to the dark age not only results in general frustration but also results in losses to the agriculture sector as most people depend on electricity to grow various crops.
Power woes in Larkana: Sindh minister takes notice of excessive outages
Kamber-Shahdadkot, Nasirabad, Warrah, Ratodero, Naudero, Miro Khan, and Shahdadkot are among several areas where protests against the power companies have now become routine. "There are 200 households in our village with around 95 having electricity meters that also pay their bills regularly. Even then we hardly get four hours of electricity in the winter," said Inamul Haq, a primary teacher from Thorhi Bijar village of Kamber Shahdadkot.
Haq, who grows vegetables, has no other option but to buy diesel worth Rs1,500 daily to supply water to his to his fields on 20 acres via a generator. "They [power company] supply electricity in various phases. Once early morning, then in the afternoon and then just two hours at night. This has made our lives miserable," Haq said.
Haji Ameer Ali Mugheri, a leader of the local growers association, said they would stage a sit-in at Sepco office as officials of the power company have started blackmailing consumers. "The payment of bills is not an issue. The problem is that they only supply power after taking a bribe," he alleged.
Wadero Ghulam Kadir Dayo: Forgotten Lord of Larkana
Some enraged villagers had laid siege at the Sepco office in Warrah Town on December 31 and set a portion of it on fire. Ali Jan Chandio, who was leading that protest, said, "We pay the bills on time. Why are they creating problems for us at the cost of the defaulters," he asked.
The same situation prevails in Naudero, home of Pakistan Peoples Party founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Nazir Soomro, Sepco's superintendent engineer in Larkana, held consumers responsible for the electricity crisis. "Most of the people don't pay their bills, therefore we suspend electricity," he said. When informed of genuine bill payers among the defaulters, he said they have no separate arrangements to provide electricity to bill paying consumers in rural areas.
Sindh information adviser Maula Bux Chandio, while criticising the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, held the federal government responsible for the power crisis in Sindh. "No meter reader visits the rural areas but they still send inflated bills to consumers," he said, referring to the total bill of Jacobabad town which was reportedly more than that of Lahore city.
Railway authorities demolish encroachments in Larkana
The Sindh government is ready to pay Sepco and Hyderabad's power utility company the due amount, but they should first reconcile it, he said. "We ask the federal government to sit with us and resolve the issue [of outstanding dues] because the Sindh government is ready to clear the genuine dues," Chandio claimed.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2016.
It has been an exceptionally harsh winter for the people of Larkana, especially those residing in rural areas, as they have been deprived of electricity for around 20 hours every day.
According to residents, the Sukkur Electric Power Company (Sepco) only supplies electricity for four hours a day, forcing people to make do on their own for the remaining time. This reversal to the dark age not only results in general frustration but also results in losses to the agriculture sector as most people depend on electricity to grow various crops.
Power woes in Larkana: Sindh minister takes notice of excessive outages
Kamber-Shahdadkot, Nasirabad, Warrah, Ratodero, Naudero, Miro Khan, and Shahdadkot are among several areas where protests against the power companies have now become routine. "There are 200 households in our village with around 95 having electricity meters that also pay their bills regularly. Even then we hardly get four hours of electricity in the winter," said Inamul Haq, a primary teacher from Thorhi Bijar village of Kamber Shahdadkot.
Haq, who grows vegetables, has no other option but to buy diesel worth Rs1,500 daily to supply water to his to his fields on 20 acres via a generator. "They [power company] supply electricity in various phases. Once early morning, then in the afternoon and then just two hours at night. This has made our lives miserable," Haq said.
Haji Ameer Ali Mugheri, a leader of the local growers association, said they would stage a sit-in at Sepco office as officials of the power company have started blackmailing consumers. "The payment of bills is not an issue. The problem is that they only supply power after taking a bribe," he alleged.
Wadero Ghulam Kadir Dayo: Forgotten Lord of Larkana
Some enraged villagers had laid siege at the Sepco office in Warrah Town on December 31 and set a portion of it on fire. Ali Jan Chandio, who was leading that protest, said, "We pay the bills on time. Why are they creating problems for us at the cost of the defaulters," he asked.
The same situation prevails in Naudero, home of Pakistan Peoples Party founder Zulfikar Ali Bhutto.
Nazir Soomro, Sepco's superintendent engineer in Larkana, held consumers responsible for the electricity crisis. "Most of the people don't pay their bills, therefore we suspend electricity," he said. When informed of genuine bill payers among the defaulters, he said they have no separate arrangements to provide electricity to bill paying consumers in rural areas.
Sindh information adviser Maula Bux Chandio, while criticising the ruling Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz, held the federal government responsible for the power crisis in Sindh. "No meter reader visits the rural areas but they still send inflated bills to consumers," he said, referring to the total bill of Jacobabad town which was reportedly more than that of Lahore city.
Railway authorities demolish encroachments in Larkana
The Sindh government is ready to pay Sepco and Hyderabad's power utility company the due amount, but they should first reconcile it, he said. "We ask the federal government to sit with us and resolve the issue [of outstanding dues] because the Sindh government is ready to clear the genuine dues," Chandio claimed.
Published in The Express Tribune, January 9th, 2016.