Whatever Wapda’s management would say or has been saying, the fact of the matter remains that the last five years have been the long hot season of losses to the tune of tens of billions each year, despite an increase of an upwards of 50 per cent in the already back-breaking electricity tariff (exclusive of the World Bank-imposed GST of 15 per cent).

The utility saw,during the same period, a meagre 4 per cent or so growth rate in electricity sales, with a spare and continuously unsold capacity of up to 5000 mw, a depleted and stunted technical human resource and,probably, it would never be able to reach the desired level of competence and service,having strangely slipped into the process of reinventing the wheel.

The exuberance with which the present management displays its new found skills in electric-utility practice is most dismaying. Actually all this can be attributed to the non-professional and obstinately non-learning attitude of the managers since November 1998. As to why Wapda’s devastation could not be comprehended till now by those who matter simply defies logic. Similarly the WB/IMF ‘s constant and regular castigations too have met the same fate and the GOP’s implicit and explicit liabilities equalling roughly Rs200 billion for the last three years(while footing Wapda’s losses and unpaid liabilities) are being ignored altogether.

Much has been written, stated and even spoken about with the hopes that some correction would be forthcoming, but whatever the reasons be, the situation remains as it is. Thus, instead of commenting on the fastly deteriorating situation and then dilating on the various off-shoots of the problem viz continuing mismanagement of WAPDA and the ramifications it is having and could have on Pakistan’s present and future, I will make an effort to once again place Wapda’s last five year’s performance for the readers to study. The various indicators through which performance of an electricity utility could be gauged have been divided into two different packets and then placed here in Tables-1 and 2.

Table—2 The contents of Table-1 pertain to the generated units, the units lost in auxiliaries, transmission lines and lastly in the process of distribution of power, and line losses as billions of units and additionally as percentage, the total no of units billed to Wapda customers- which total 13.31 million ending FY 2002-2003, the sale rate, the billed amount, the total revenue collected (exclusive of the GST of 15 per cent which is collected by the utility for the CBR), the total expenditure made by Wapda each year for the last five years and lastly the profit or loss calculated for each year.

In addition, generation through hydel sources, Wapda’s own thermal stations and the purchases through the IPPs is also listed in this table, so that the reader could comprehend and also make an opinion, the figures of the last five years are compared with such figures for the financial year FY 1997-98, incidentally the worst of periods because Wapda’s then management was nearly a hostage to the political whims and did not feature much when it came to the national priorities.

It, in fact, could be likened to the Pakistan Railways which has stood bereft of any financial out-lays from the GOP since NLC was given the first right of refusal to carry the national freight- a situation fortunately on the mend at the moment. However, we see that Wapda’s last five years performance simply pales in face of even the very mediocre working during the FY 1997-98.

The Table-11 presents the actual face and working of the Utility, which is normally evident and seen by the electricity customers. Here interruptions in supply are listed as trippings - of the under 20 and the over 20 minutes variety. Thereafter the total number of distribution transformers damaged each year and the accumulated MVA capacity thus lost is displayed.

Then the most tragic aspect of electricity operations is depicted, viz. the fatal and non-fatal accidents to Wapda’s line staff and similar casualties met by the people —- listed as public men in Wapda reports.

All information made available in both Tables-1 and l l have been preened from the utility’s own statistical data and returns. The Wapda year books- published only up to the FY 2000-01, have also contributed to the above study for authenticity.

More study reveals that the total generation of 64.038 billion units for FY 2002-03 shows an increase of only 20.23 per cent over the figure for FY 1997-98, which translates into an yearly increase of less than 4 per cent proving the point, that besides stagnation in productivity of the nation, Wapda also has not been able to achieve any increase in its sales, which remains the basic reason for stunted revenue receipts and the burden of extra IPPs capacity payments.

On the other hand, a look at the different type of generation further reveals that its own thermal capacity of 4920 mw has now reduced to a pathetic 3000 mw or so with the actual availability factor of only 70 per cent.

This fact alone contributes to tens of billions of losses each year as the IPPs produce is up to three times of what the average Wapda-produced electricity unit would ever cost. Table-1 would tell us that against 13,848 billion units lost during FY 1997-98 as many as 16.617 billion units were lost in the just concluded FY 2002-03, which translate into a hefty 20 per cent increase.

This phenomenal increase in loss during the last five years, against the various claims that the present non-professional management of Wapda has managed to reduce the line losses from some phantom figure of 42 to as low as 24 per cent is indeed strange and can only be construed as nothing but some thing intrinsically untrue.

In percentage terms, the 26 per cent loss figure for FY 1997-98 increased to 27.3 per cent in FY 1998-99, remained so during FY 1999-00, minutely came down to 25.7 per cent in FY 2000-01, again remained so during FY 2001-02 and then jumped to 26.1 per cent for the last fiscal. According to experts, all the above is purely because of non-maintenance of power stations, transmission lines and the dilapidated distribution system. It is further aggravated by the nearly no additions to the above imperatives. There after we come to the revenue collected by Wapda, which remains only Rs169.00 billion for the last fiscal against the advertised Rs216 billion.

Furthermore sale rate in rupees per units shows a 51 per cent increase in the electricity tariff- this being exclusive of the 15 per cent GST, which unfortunately gets routinely propagated as the main culprit responsible for the continuing Wapda woes. Wapda, on the other hand, informs all concerned that the tariff has only increased by 17 per cent. A little look at the Wapda receivables leads the reader to conclude that it has increased from Rs. 43.891 billion ending FY 1997-98 to as much as Rs58.716 billion for the last fiscal and that too after a stupendous write-off of Rs17 billion in the way.

Although public sector or governmental receivables are billed as the reason for Wapda losses, we see that against a mere 12.40 per cent increase in this facet, a 76.24 per cent increase in private receivables has taken place during the last five years- here we see the arrears against private customers nearly doubling from Rs13.769 billion during FY 1997-98 to Rs24.267 billion now. However, the biggest and the bitter most feather in Wapda’s cap is the 121.11 per cent increase in its yearly expenditure from only Rs. 100.4 billion to Rs222.00 billion for the FY 2002-03. This has led to a 616.21 per cent increase in yearly losses from Rs7.4 billion in FY 1997-98 to a whooping Rs53 billion for the just lapsed financial year.

The contents of table-11 show deteriorating supply position against the much touted customer service in vogue. I am also at a loss to understand the utility of a separate customer service centre when Wapda possesses, unlike other service providers, subdivisions and sub-offices at nearly the mohalla level. Thus instead of improving upon the existing set-ups, Wapda is set upon doing otherwise.

As a consequence, we see a 57.59 per cent increase in minor trippings, a 47.32 per cent increase in break-downs, a 14.91 per cent increase in damage rate of distribution transformers, a 25.93 per cent increase in depletion of distribution MVA capacity and last but not the least a sad 4.70 to 1750.00 per cent increase in fatal accidents to Wapda employees, injuries to work men, fatal electrocution of public men and injuries respectively. All this has happened when million have been squandered for purchase of safety equipment.

The relevant people in Wapda thus seem to have forgotten that accidents can only be avoided with better training and a satisfied employee.

Because Wapda’s present management has down-sized the existing training facilities and have also built up so much pressure with a near witch-hunt in its operations, that the employees— specially the line staff, do not possess the right frame of mind to work on live lines. Undue pressure and bad service conditions are a recipe for disaster and such is the situation in this utility.

From the above it is concluded that Wapda’s operations of the last five years have been a drag and nothing else and anything to the contrary could not be any thing but distortion of facts.

The writer is the former Member Power of Wapda.