MEPCO 'red tape' puts lives on the line in Mailsi

Broken poles remain standing as 614 approved replacements await reallocation

MAILSI:

Alleged administrative lapses and poor planning by the Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) have left hundreds of dangerously dilapidated electricity poles across the Mailsi Division unreplaced, putting the lives and property of citizens at grave risk.

Official sources claimed MEPCO's Material Management Department on October 30 had formally issued 614 low-tension (LT) electricity poles, each 31 feet long, for operational formations across the company.

However, despite completion of all official formalities and issuance of authority letters, the allocation was later cancelled through an official communication, citing the failure of contractors to collect the poles from the Lodhran Pole Plant.

Instead of taking action against the negligent contractors or arranging an immediate alternative, the MEPCO administration cancelled the authority letters altogether, bringing the entire replacement process to a standstill.

Local residents and social figures, including Chaudhry Atta Mohiuddin Gujar, Chaudhry Allah Ditta, Muhammad Tanveer and Qaiser Abbas, questioned why no alternative arrangements were made when contractors failed to lift the poles. They said such weak decision-making at the administrative level was contrary to basic public safety principles, as citizens' lives were being put at risk.

Sources said that even after the cancellation, no practical progress has been made toward re-issuing or reallocating the poles, reflecting official apathy and mismanagement.

As a result, in many areas the condition of electricity poles has deteriorated so badly that field staff often avoid climbing them due to the danger to their own lives, leading to prolonged power outages.

In areas such as Lalipur, Abbas Nagar, Chak 145-WB, Basti Namoos and surrounding localities, hundreds of decades-old poles are broken, leaning or in a critical condition and could collapse at any time.