KARACHI: K-Electric, in collaboration with the law-enforcement agencies, acted against electricity theft and defaulters in Korangi Industrial Area and Orangi Marble Industrial Area.
In the past three months in Orangi Marble Industrial Area, K-Electric has removed over 2,500kg of Kunda or illegal connections from the utility’s infrastructure. During inspections, several factories and customers were found involved in illegally drawing power directly from the PMT through an underground cable.
This illegal connection, supplying around 100kW of stolen electricity, has now been disconnected. These illegal connections were responsible for stealing over 2.8 million units of electricity monthly. K-Electric carried out 10 actions, leading to the filing of two FIRs.
In areas such as Mehran Town, Sharafi Goth, Shah Ali Goth, and Korangi Industrial Area, KE removed over 3,190kg worth of 300 kunda connections. These unauthorized connections were stealing over 105,000 units of electricity, providing illegal power to more than 200 shops, houses, and small industries.
In Landhi, the power utility removed a total of 1,024kg worth of 1,450 illegal connections from Landhi Hospital Chowrangi, Majeed Colony, Bilal Colony, Muzaffarabad, and the D7 Bus Stop area.
A KE spokesperson said that actions against the kunda mafia and defaulters would have to continue as there is an alarming rise in power theft. The illegal connections bypass network safety protocols, posing risks to K-Electric’s infrastructure and residents as well. Electricity theft is a growing challenge in the city and illegal connections being discovered from factories is an alarming situation.
Theft of electricity and non-payment of bills are two major contributing factors towards loadshedding, and line losses cannot be reduced without mitigating these elements from society. While KE is carrying out the anti-theft crackdowns actively, the elimination of such practices should also be the top priority of the Government. As losses decrease in certain areas, loadshedding is reduced or eliminated.
K-Electric has urged the consumers, elected representatives, and community leaders to encourage timely payment of bills and discourage electricity theft. These efforts are important to ensure uninterrupted power supply throughout the city.
Copyright Business Recorder, 2024