State minister for Water and Power says maximum power generation in Pakistan’s history recorded two days ago
The Pakistan Muslim League-Nawaz (PML-N) government is determined to curb electricity theft, curtail line losses, control mismanagement and corruption in the power sector to bridge the electricity demand and supply gap and ensure justified electricity distribution and tariff, said State Minister for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali in a media briefing after having meetings with the National Transmission and Despatch Company Limited (NTDCL),Lahore Electric Supply Company (LESCO), FESCO (Faisalabad) and Multan Electric Power Company (MEPCO) at the Water and Power Development Authority (WAPDA) House on Saturday.
The minister said, “Departmental corruption, favoritism in power distribution, mismanagement in the execution of power projects, electricity thefts of about 3,000 megawatts every year and line losses during the previous governments had marred the entire power system of the country, resulting in the loss of billions of rupees to the national exchequer.”
He said despite the availability of funds new grid stations at Dubbar, Taju, Khuzdar and Dera Ghazi (DG) Khan which were to be completed by the NTDCL in 2011, had not yet been executed.
The previous government had also not started work on stretching the transmission lines to connect the under-construction 970 MW Neelum-Jhehlum Hydropower Project (NJHP) to the national grid, he added.
He said if the former prime minister had reduced or abolished his heavy discretionary funds the NJHP transmission line and Nandipur Project would have been completed already.”
On the prime minister’s directive, Abid Sher Ali said he had directed the authorities concerned to complete the 350 MW grid station at Khuzdar by the end of this year to facilitate the power consumers in Balochistan.
For the first time in the history of Pakistan the electricity generation was recorded at 16,170 MW two days ago, he said, adding that unfortunately it could not be utilised properly due to the obsolete power infrastructure.
He said 148 feeders of PESCO (Peshawar) were inflicting Rs 54 billion loss annually to the national exchequer.
16,000 illegal tube-wells were operating in the QESCO (Quetta) domain with an accumulative loss of Rs 35 billion per annum, he said.
The Makran division was daily consuming 80 MW energy free of cost as the people were not ready to pay their power bills and hence the power sector had to bear Rs 26 billion loss every year, he maintained.
He added that free of charge electricity was being supplied since long to Kot Mitthan Village of Larkana district, Sindh which was injustice to the rest of the power consumers in the country.
An enquiry had been ordered into this mismanagement and injustice, he added.
He said all political recruitments during the last government, ad hoc/daily wage/contract employees and the officers sitting on their respective posts for a long time in the power sector’s departments were being short- listed, adding that appropriate action would be taken after assessing all aspects, including legal implications to ensure excellent management.
Honest, well-reputed people would be brought into the DISCOs’ Board of Directors, he assured.
To another query, the minister said these measures would result in adequate electricity generation and conservation for equitable and affordable electricity to all the consumers.