Trouble began to brew when KESC staff went to Lyari for some repair work. According to the vice president of the PPP south division, Sohail Tanoly, “KESC comes to Lyari without permission and digs up our new roads and old roads and then leaves the work half undone.” Roads in the area were recently built under the Lyari package.
An FIR was lodged against the utility on Saturday on the directives of DC Qazi for digging up the roads illegally. KESC, in turn, stopped the maintenance work and the electricity supply was stopped to the area as well. They demanded that the case be withdrawn before they continued with the work.
The members of the PPP’s south division arrived at the KESC’s head office in Gizri on Tuesday with Lyari’s residents to protest against the power outage. Sindh Information Minister Shazia Marri also sat with the protesters, who warned that they would hold a sit-in till their demands were met.
Personal vendetta
On the other hand, KESC alleged that Qazi has a personal vendetta. They said that the DC is trying to pressure the KESC management into waiving “load regularisation charges” for his friend’s petrol pump.
“We cannot possibly start cutting the road in an area without the local bodies signing off on it because they have their own utilities like the water lines,” said KESC Media General Manager Aminur Rahman. “We have gone through all the legal connections. This is a personal vendetta from the DC South.”
Rahman said that the company had an ‘arm’s length’ policy and wasn’t in the business of doing people favours.
Twist in the tale
The already tense situation grew complicated when the KESC’s meter-reading team disappeared for 12 hours when they went to Jamal Qazi’s house. According to KESC, the team went between 8 pm and 9 pm on Monday. The meter was inside the house and when they went to see it they were held hostage for 12 hours by Qazi’s guards.
Qazi claimed that the team arrived between 10 pm and 11 pm and entered his house illegally. He registered another FIR against the utility for breaking into his house.
Four members of the KESC staff were presented in court on Tuesday morning after their release and were remanded into police custody.
“I didn’t see any evidence that the team was held in illegal custody by Qazi’s guards,” said Frere DSP Zameer Abbasi. “There is a time for meter checking and this was a strange time to be checking the meter.” He said that that the FIR was registered by 3 am after the police made their own inquiries which began at 1 am.
“It is one matter to jump over the wall and enter a house,” said Abbasi. “It is another thing when someone opens the door and you step inside and then refuse to leave. If I had seen that the staff were held hostage then I would not have registered the FIR.” The motives for entering Qazi’s home and for him to keep the KESC team hostage are unclear in both cases.
“The KESC team does not carry weapons of any sort and Qazi has a whole platoon of guards,” said KESC’s Rahman. “How could they have entered his house forcefully and stayed there for hours?”
Governor Dr Ishratul Ebad gave KESC a guarantee that the case against them will be withdrawn. The utility in turn said that they will resume work in the area.
Meanwhile KESC’s Gizri head office is bursting with protesters. The governor’s guarantees haven’t placated them. “We are giving you 30 minutes to restore electricity in Lyari,” they were seen to scream on Tuesday. “After that we will take the matter in our own hands.”
MPAs demand action
Meanwhile the Sindh Assembly members from Lyari also warned that they will bring the city to a halt if the four power feeders supplying electricity to Lyari were not immediately restarted by KESC.
“If the problem is between the KESC and the DC then why are the people being punished,” asked Salim Hingoro. He was addressing the media with other MPA Shama Mithani and the general secretary of the PPP south, Taimur Ali, at the press club on Tuesday.
He said that a conspiracy was being hatched against the people of Lyari and the PPP. “Lyari’s people have always been a victim of the bureaucracy and administration.” Hingoro said that they will sit in front of the KESC head office till the power was restored. Taimur Ali said that the deputy commissioner looked over all of the southern district but the only Lyari’s power had been cut off.
With additional input by Sohail Khattak
Published in The Express Tribune, February 15th, 2012.
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what i do not understand is the timing for kesc meter readers, they are not suppose to check the meters at night and since i have been a witness of this harassment i totally understand and would have done the same as DC with KESC staff if possible!!! secondly even if the DC had his friends work, i do not see a reason for cutting off the light of innocent people in layari and exposing this to cover up their faults!!! if the kesc had pre orders to dig the road, who is responsible to cover the road or are they suppose to be open n dug until the next budget passes KESC staff should be taught MANNERS and ETIQUETTE'S of talking and should be told the TIMINGS to disturb the public!!!