Combined teams to take on electricity thieves in K-P

CM Mahmood tells PESCO to start power accountability with its own staff

PESHAWAR: In order to tackle energy shortfalls in the province, the provincial chief minister on Monday called for devising a systematic strategy which clamps down on leaks in the form of power theft and line losses apart from accelerating bill recovery to shorten the circular debt.

It was further directed to improve the overall performance of the primary power distributor in the province.

This was directed by Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa (K-P) Chief Minister Mahmood Khan while presiding over a high-level meeting on power at the Chief Minister Secretariat in Peshawar on Monday.

During the meeting, the campaign against power theft by domestic, commercial and industrial consumers was discussed.

The meeting was told that some 897 first information reports (FIRs) have been registered against power thieves in the province, while 720 power pilferers arrested. Moreover, 90 illegal transformers were also removed from the system. During the process, 2,000 electricity meters were also put up.

Further, Rs94 million were recovered so far and the campaign would be further accelerated.

The entire campaign, CM Mahmood was told, resulted in a four per cent decrease in line losses in K-P, compared to 1.5 per cent reduction in line losses at the national level for a similar campaign. Mahmood directed to accelerate efforts in this regard while the provincial government, the police and district administration were all directed to provide their support to the campaign to make it a success.

Major power loss areas will be made the focus of the campaign going forward.

The provincial government, Mahmood added, would from combined teams comprising officials from the district administration, police and other relevant departments to supplement PESCO’s efforts for accelerated recovery and discouraging power theft.

The meeting also noted weaknesses in the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO), the inefficient system of electricity distribution and other allied problems.

To resolve these issues, the meeting decided to form a comprehensive and systematic strategy. He also called for upgrading power transmission lines.

Mahmood directed that the power utility take action against its officials who were allegedly involved in power theft, adding that self-accountability was imperative before launching a crackdown against others.

In this regard, the chief minister was told the PESCO had sent 12 SDOs on forced retirement. Moreover, PESCO has already identified the areas where there was massive power theft.

Published in The Express Tribune, December 25^th, 2018.