On the assurance by Sindh chief secretary of paying the water board’s dues in the next few days, the Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) restored the power supply to the Dhabeji pumping station which was disconnected Saturday morning due to non-payment of longstanding bills.
The Karachi Water and Sewerage Board (KWSB) has failed to pay its outstanding dues to the KESC despite a seven-day final notice for partial payment of at least Rs 1 billion out of the total arrears of Rs 16.69 billion.
In spite of the decision taken at Governor’s House meeting, the water board has even failed to pay its monthly power dues regularly to the KESC.
Despite the non-payment of the dues within the stipulated seven days, power to the Dhabeji water pumping was restored on the chief secretary’s commitment and the power utility demanded the payment of entire outstanding amount without further delay.
The KESC claims that the water utility consumes electricity worth Rs 350 million every month but has not been responding positively to pay its bills in the interest of water needs of the metropolis.
On the other hand, the power company itself has been constantly strained with respect to cash flows due to the burgeoning receivables, the leading outstanding of which Rs 16.69 billion is receivable from the KWSB alone.
These financial constraints have been making it increasingly difficult for the KESC to keep regular its payments to strategic partners like the Sui Southern Gas Company (SSGC) against the gas purchase bill, which has brought both the companies under the burden of circular debt.
Last week, the KESC had served the final notice to the KWSB to pay at least Rs 1 billion within seven days or face disconnection of power. But the water utility only paid a meagre 10 percent of the asked amount, Rs 100 million.
“During the past four months, the KWSB has only paid Rs 150 million, while its outstanding bills accumulated from Rs 15.706 billion in November 2011 to Rs 16.694 billion in January 2012. As against that, the board paid Rs 50 million in November and Rs 100 million in February in violation of its commitment at the Governor’s House meetings.
The KESC stated that the release of the outstanding payments owed by the KWSB, would aid the power company to a great extent in making or forwarding those payments to SSGC on account of the monthly gas purchase. The KWSB’s dues would be paid directly to the gas company to offset and payables by the power utility to the gas company.
The KESC expressed the hope that the first step in this case with respect to the billion-rupee notice, would be the clearance of the remaining Rs 900 million by the KWSB, which can be forwarded to the SSGC.
The power utility has also been exempting the water pumping stations of load shedding under all circumstances, even the worst situations when fuel shortage had forced the KESC to enhance the duration and expand the scope of load shedding. The KESC has also been offering to bear half the cost of its internal cable replacement but the power company had been forced to default on its gas bills, because the water board was not paying.
On the contrary, the KWSB management has been taking advantage of the situation considering it as a weakness of KESC. The board has been exploiting the city’s water needs as a lethal excuse for non-payment, on the false pretext that it could always hide behind the public despair if power supply to water pumping stations were disconnected.
Despite committing to pay at least its current monthly bills regularly in a meeting at Governor’s House, the KWSB has not been paying at all; rather it has grown in its irresponsibility, harming the smooth supply of all the three essential utilities to the city: water, gas and electricity.
The KESC alleged that the irresponsible and almost blackmailing attitude of KWSB not only added to the power utility’s load of circular debt but also enhanced the misery of the already hard pressed population of Karachi. The citizens have a right to question the water board’s inefficiency and hold its management accountable for defaulting on paying its power bills.
