Senate Standing Committee on Water and Power headed by Senator Iqbal Zafar Jhagra on Thursday decided to conduct a performance audit of K-Electric through Auditor General of Pakistan aimed at judging the performance of the power utility. Senator Taj Haider of PPP floated the proposal that Chairman Standing Committee should write a letter to Auditor General of Pakistan to conduct a performance audit of the power utility as the company resists sharing its data with the auditors. None of the committee members and officials of Water and Power Ministry oppose the proposal.
Minister of State for Water and Power, Abid Sher Ali told the committee that the agreement between the National Transmission and Despatch Company (NTDC) and management of K-Electric (former KESC) was to receive 650 MW electricity from the national grid but on occasions K-Electric allegedly extracted up to 950 MW from the system and did not switch on its own generators. He said K-Electric on Wednesday night hit Hubco power plant but fortunately it did not affect NTDC's system.
He said, Nepra has issued a legal notice to K-Electric on the current state of affairs and will probe thoroughly, adding that the government has been made helpless by an agreement signed by the former government. "K-Electric which has to pay Rs 100 billion to the federal government has transferred its own investment abroad and misstated its generation capacity," he continued.
The Minister of State for Water and Power said that he has startling 'revelations' about K-Electric but he does not wish to make them public in the standing committee. He further stated that provincial governments and AJ&K have to pay billions of rupees of Discos. He said when the government takes any action against the corrupt elements of Discos they get stay orders from courts. He also cited the example of one company which obtained stay against the transmission line of Neelum Jhelum Hydropower project which is a project of national importance. "Minister for Water and Power, Khawaja Asif and I are planning to meet Chief Justice of Supreme Court of Pakistan to seek his help against undeserved stay orders," he added.
Abid Sher Ali also gave a reference of Sukkar where, according to him, one of the top politicians is watering his fields from official tube-wells at a very low tariff. Standing Committee expressed annoyance at the Ministry of Water and Power for submitting a half-page brief on load shedding- an issue which has angered the entire country. Senator Numan Wazir and Senator Nisar Muhmmad maintained that they do not want to waste their time in useless meetings. Chairman Standing Committee Iqbal Zafar Jhagra also sided with the committee members, saying though government claims that it has increased generation which probably is correct yet there is no let-up in problems of people.
He further stated that Ministry of Water and Power has not provided Disco-wise schedule of load shedding in a tabulated form. Additional Secretary Ministry of Water and Power Omar Rasool assured the committee that a team is working on this issue and will submit details during the meeting. However, he later left the meeting with State Minister as a member of his entourage to visit Nandipur Power project. Another Additional Secretary, Hasan Nasir Jamy, said that he deals with water not power sector.
Most of the committee members expressed unhappiness at the behaviour of the Minister and Ministry's officials. Senator Nauman Wazir, who appears to be well-versed in power sector issues, claimed that Discos do not have exact load shedding data and bills are merely guestimates. Senator Ahmad Hasan said the Ministry does not provide accurate information to its own Ministers.
Senator Taj Haider emphasised the need to invest in transmission system for reliable supply of electricity. He disclosed that Iran has offered to supply an additional 1000 MW electricity to Pakistan which can be increased to 2000 MW. Senator Atta-ur-Rehman said "thieves are sitting in Discos" who are collaborating with those who steal electricity. He cited his own example and said that he faced the ire of a Line Superintendent who sent him inflated bills for several months after he refused to help him transfer from one area to another.
He also disclosed that most of the transformers in KPK are illegal which were distributed at the time of general elections by contesting candidates. Irsa officials informed the committee that India is not using Pakistan's water share under the Indus Water Treaty, adding that Pakistan's projects are in accordance with the agreement. Senator Nisar Muhammad, Senator Taj Haider and Senator Nisar Nauman Wazir raised issues with respect to distribution of water amongst the provinces. The committee decided that a detailed meeting should be held to discuss distribution of water in accordance with the Abbasi report and the Water Accord among the provinces.
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