MQM-P deplores power outages in Ramazan

MNAs hold HESCO bosses responsible for incompetence of ground staff

HYDERABAD:

The Muttahida Qaumi Movement-Pakistan (MQM-P) has decried power supply cuts by Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO) in Ramazan.

Despite it being the fasting month, HESCO has shown no let up in the power outages, saidMQM-P MNAs from Hyderabad Sabir Hussain Qaimkhani and Salahuddin.

They said that the consumers run from pillar to post with the complaints of faults in the transmission system but their grievances remain never heard.

The utility takes weeks to replace burnt and damaged transformers, they deplored. They lamented that not only the unscheduled outages and long hours of scheduled load shedding traumatise the people, the unjustified bills and detection further add to their problems.

The MNAs blamed the higher officers of HESCO for being responsible for the disappointing performance of their staff. They said the officers sit in their air conditioned rooms all day and that they are least bothered about the troubles faced by the consumers.

The MNAs asked why a centralised one window service for correction of the bills is not being initiated despite repeated suggestions.

The MNAs also complained about gas load shedding and low pressure which is continuing even in Ramazan. According to them, they are receiving complaints from the citizens about low pressure or gas outage during Sehri and Iftar times. They asked the top officers Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) to take notice and address the problem. They blamed HESCO for making the people pay for the incompetence of its staff by causing outages and delivering unjust bills to their consumers.

The HESCO staff always invented excuses to justify the miseries being caused to the consumers, the MQM-P lawmakers said, adding, people are being forced to run from pillar to post though it is a matter of a fault in a transformer or the transmission system or the correction of wrong bills.

They deplored that neither a solution to the power theft was being found nor the problem of extended hours of scheduled load shedding, which was based on the line losses criteria, was being resolved. The MNAs said the summer season was on the horizon but no steps had been taken to upgrade the transmission system and demanded that the HESCO should drastically reduce the scheduled and unscheduled outages and the consumers’ complaints pertaining to wrong and detection bills should be addressed on priority.

Published in The Express Tribune, March 27^th, 2023.