Load-shedding: Don’t allow excess allocations, LESCO told

Court seeks report on electricity supply to KESC.

LAHORE:

The Lahore High Court on Monday directed the Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) to ensure it does not supply power to domestic and commercial consumers in excess of their allocations.

The court also issued notice to the Ministry of Petroleum and the Ministry of Water and Power and sought a report on the energy supply to the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC), before adjourning for May 28.

Earlier, the Lesco chief executive submitted a report on load-shedding in Lahore.

Advocate Azhar Siddique, the petitioner, told the court that electricity theft increased to 20% in the summer.

He said that electricity was being stolen in certain commercial areas and private housing schemes with the connivance of Lesco officials.

At this, the court observed that the weather was warming up, so the respondents should quickly take steps to control the level of load-shedding.

The petitioner submitted that urban areas of the Punjab were without power for up to 16 hours a day and rural areas for longer, while other parts of the country, including the area serviced by the KESC, suffered little load shedding.

He said that the lengthy power outages were affecting the water supply as well. People were so habituated to being without electricity that they were amazed when there were only six or seven hours of load-shedding a day.

The country was now in the absurd situation that people not paying for electricity were getting full supply, while people paying their bills were getting a fraction of the supply.

The petitioner has asked the court to direct the authorities responsible for power distribution to come up with a more equitable load-shedding schedule for the country.

Published in The Express Tribune, May 14^th, 2013.