The Karachi Electric Supply Company may be unpopular but for some residents of Shah Latif Town, the power utility is a saviour. For long, they have been fleeced by a contractor, who gave them illegal power connections and that too at double the official tariff.
Ghaffar and 29 other residents of Shah Latif Town’s Sector 16/A went to Sindh High Court against the KESC management for not providing electricity connections in the neighbourhood, thus leaving them at the mercy of a “kunda” contractor, who has been minting millions of rupees by issuing illegal connections.
Citing the KESC, National Electric Power Regulatory Authority, Shah Latif Electricity Company and the contractor as respondents, the petitioners submitted that around 400 to 500 houses have not been given power connections despite filing a number of applications. People have been compelled to get illegal power lines, for which the contractor charges Rs12,000 for a single-phase and Rs36,000 for a three-phase connection, they stated.
The court had restrained the private contractor from harassing the residents to pay undue power charges. “The residents are ready to pay legitimate dues so that power may be provided on regular basis in a legal manner,” the petitioners said, appealing to the court to direct the KESC to provide them electricity.
During the last hearing, a lawyer representing the KESC informed the judges that the power utility desires to regularise all illegal and unauthorised connections so that the residents may be at peace of mind and not forced to pay excessive amounts to the “Kunda” operator.
After hearing his version, Chief Justice Mushir Alam, who was heading the SHC division bench, ordered the KESC to establish its camp office at the neighbourhood to facilitate the petitioners to apply for new “legal” connections. The lawyer requested the court to grant some time to obtain instructions from the KESC management as to when such office could be established. Allowing time, the bench put off the hearing indefinitely.
Published in The Express Tribune, November 25th, 2012.
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