The illegal installation of power generators and electricity boxes in residential areas, particularly in front of the houses, is posing serious threats to the lives of the residents and creating serious environmental hazards in the city.
The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (IESCO) has installed many electricity boxes in several sectors of the capital city by encroaching upon the government land, while the Capital Development Authority (CDA) Enforcement Directorate has also been dredging its feet to take action against the encroachments.
An official source in IESCO told Pakistan Today that the power distribution company had received a number of complaints by the residents of various sectors to remove electricity boxes, as it was a direct threat to their lives. Many of the power generators have also been installed at the green belts which are clear violation of the CDA bye-laws.
“I complained many times to the sub division office of IESCO to shift the electricity box, which had installed in front of my house, to another place but the officials are ignoring the issue,” said Husain Ali, a resident of G/10-3.
On the other hand, the CDA has also failed to make proper mechanism for the installation of power generators by people in residential and commercial areas. “Any one can encroach upon the land to install generators and such steps raised many questions about the performance of the officials serving in CDA,” said Gohar Hamid, who runs a restaurant in G/9.
A CDA official told Pakistan Today that due to the lack of resources and shortage of staff in Enforcement Directorate, it had become difficult for the civic body to get vacated its land, which had been encroached in different ways. “Yes, it is against the laws to place huge generators on government land in different markets and on green belts without getting NOC from the authority concerned,” he said.
Environment experts have also expressed their concern over the installation of generators in public places despite the fact that it has a direct impact on the environment. Besides life threat to the people, these generators are also causing environmental hazards. He said the environment hazard could cause respiratory diseases whereas it also damaged the green image of the federal capital.
Expressing their frustration over the poor performance of the CDA and IESCO, locals told Pakistan Today that smoke from commercial generators had polluted many residential areas of the city and termed it a direct threat to the beauty of the capital. They criticised the role of CDA and other concerned departments in protecting the government land from land grabbers and environment by performing their duties well.