Power theft in Charsadda

CHARSADDA: Power theft is a country-wide problem, which needs an immediate and lasting solution. The district of Charsadda in general and the city of Charsadda in particular are no exceptions. The authorities of Pesco have failed to control the evil of electricity theft. Electricity thieves are fined a meagre amount. Is it appropriate for Pesco to fine a thief just Rs5,000 if he steals power worth thousands of rupees in just a few hours? I don’t think this is a fair punishment and an appropriate deterrence to discourage this evil practice. Rather, this kind of punishment will only end up encouraging the continuance of this evil practice. Sometimes, as deterrence, electricity metres of consumers who are known to have been involved in theft are moved to places where they cannot be easily tampered with, e.g., high on poles, etc. However, through the connivance of Pesco officials, in most cases, the metres still end up being tampered with. Habitual thieves need to be re-visited time and again, and their electricity metres re-checked because the habit of stealing electricity is hard to get rid of.

Also, those who receive electricity from the feeder in Charsadda city (including this writer) request the Pesco high-ups, particularly the executive engineer, to correct the mobile number of the SDO Pesco concerned printed on the back of electricity bills for the use of consumers, in case of electricity disruption, load-shedding, or any other emergency. The number in question is not relevant. I once called on that number to ask about the restoration of electricity, which had been unavailable for hours, but was told that the official I had called deals with the Mardan area, and not with matters pertaining to Charsadda. I request that the correct number of the SDO be provided to the people.

Mohammad Fayyaz

Published in The Express Tribune, January 24^th, 2015.

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