F.P. Report
PESHAWAR: In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa, it has been decided to take strict action against the influential mafia and big fishes involved in illegal use of electricity and Kunda culture, while lists of various factories, hotels, commercial plazas, wedding halls, shopping malls, shops and illegal housing societies in the province involved in electricity theft have also been prepared.
Soon a cracked down on a large scale will be launched against those culprits. The domestic consumers have also been warned to give up the Kunda culture immediately and come to use electricity legally, otherwise strict action will be taken according to the law.
The defaulters of electricity bills should also cooperate and pay their arrears early so that the country can be brought out of the current crisis.
A decision was taken in a first meeting of the Provincial Task Force headed by the provincial interior secretary that constituted for the ongoing campaign against illegal use of electricity and recovery of dues from electricity consumers in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa as per the priority of the Prime Minister of Pakistan.
In the meeting, head of the task force, Secretary Interior Abid Majeed, Secretary Energy Zulfikar Ali Shah, Commissioner Peshawar Zubair Khan, Commissioner Malakand Shahid ullah Khan, Deputy Secretary Industry/Commerce Maqbool Khan, PESCO Chief Fazal Rabi, Additional Secretary Power Division Arshad Majeed Khan, Commissioners of various divisions, regional police officers and others were present in the meeting.
It was told in the meeting that during one week from September 5th this month, a total of 518 raids were conducted across the province, 925 illegal users involved in electricity theft were removed, 684 cases were registered in different police stations, 28 people were arrested and warnings were issued to 338 consumers. In addition to this, Rs. 4 million have been recovered during one week. According to CEO PESCO, there are Rs. 190 billion dues from electricity defaulters in the province, for which teams have been formed to recover.
Additional Secretary Power Division Arshad Majeed Khan expressed his dissatisfaction with the performance of PESCO and said that the most electricity theft is in Mardan, Charsadda, Bannu, Peshawar while the recovery targets are also slow. In the meeting Bannu, DI Khan, Kohat, Bannu, Hazara Divisional Commissioners and Regional Police Officers (RPOs) informed about the measures for recovery and prevention of electricity theft in their respective districts. In the meeting, emphasis was also placed on using the campaign under the Whistle Blower Act to make it successful.
In the meeting, Secretary Interior Abid Majeed, the head of the provincial task force, expressed his indignation at the lack of public awareness campaign and weak communication by PESCO during the prevention and recovery campaign of illegal use of electricity.
He directed PESCO chief Pana-flex to be displayed in streets, Mohallas and markets immediately. He also directed to start awareness campaign on TV channels and newspapers. He emphasized to take strict action against illegal housing societies including posh areas of the province.
He directed the deputy commissioners, assistant commissioners and police officials of the province who are included in the task force committees at district and tehsil levels to share data on daily basis to PMRU that is performing as monitoring duties of such operation,
Secretary Power Syed Zulfiqar Ali Shah also presented important suggestions for the success of the campaign in the meeting. Appreciating the personal interest and cooperation of the Additional Secretary Power Division, he has expressed hope that the above initiative will help in the power crisis in the province.
