PESHAWAR: Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Peshawar Electric Supply Company (PESCO), Engineer Jabbar Khan has said that initially Aerial Bundled Cable (ABC) project has been approved for three districts of Khyber Pakthunkhwa to prevent line losses and illegal electricity connections.
In the first phase, ABC were approved for high line loss feeders of Peshawar, Bannu and Khyber districts. He stated this during a briefing to Advisor to Prime Minister on Political Communications and Public Affairs, Engr Amir Muqam, here at PESCO headquarters. Senior officials of the company attended the meeting.
CEO PESCO said ABC on 25 high loss feeders would be achieved this year while 29 ABC feeders would be completed by next year in Bannu. Engr Amir Muqam said it was an important project that would help curb menace of Kunda and illegal connections.
He directed PECO authorities to expedite work on Golen Gol project in Chitral so that people of the remote northern district would be largely benefited. He also directed immediate repair of transformer of Peshawar High Court Bar Association.
He was informed that work on Special Economic Zone Rashakai grid station was under way that would provide uninterrupted power supply to consumers and industrial units. PM advisor directed PESCO authorities to submit a detail report about line losses in Bannu’s hard areas so that workable recommendations be taken up with its elected lawmakers to curb power stealing.
CEO Jabbar Khan said there was 100 percent recovery in soft areas, 98 percent in semi-hard areas and 59 percent in hard areas in KP. He said line losses at Bannu, Shabqadar and Hari Chand Charsadda, Badabar in Peshawar are high due to illegal connections.
He said PESCO needs assistance of police and law enforcement agencies for collection of E-bills and controlling electricity theft in hard areas. Jabbar underscored the need for legislation to control theft of electricity. He said number of consumers in 2002 were 1.8 million that jumped to 3.98 million in 2022 while electricity demand went mounted from 1,800MW to 3,307MW during the said periods.
Engr Amir Muqam directed PESCO authorities to give significant relief to people in load shedding from May 1. He directed for improved coordination, improved service delivery and rising above personal interest to increase recovery. He asked to reduce line losses and provide better power supply to consumers during the summer.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2022