09 October 2004	Saturday	23 Shaban 1425

PESHAWAR, Oct 8: The Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco), a subsidiary of Wapda, has registered 3,874 FIRs against its consumers in the NWFP on charges of power pilferage during the last seven months, official sources said.

A majority of the FIRs have been lodged against domestic consumers for misusing the facility, taking unauthorized power connections directly from Wapda's poles and distribution cables and applying unfair means to pilfer power by tampering meters.

However, the move could not do much in the way of controlling the power theft because of the authorities' reluctance to take to task those booked. Pesco is incurring huge financial losses every year because of power pilferage, the officials say.

Water and Power Minister Liaqat Jatoi told journalists last week that though Pesco's average annual line losses stood close to 30 per cent, in some cases its feeders were incurring these losses up to 80 per cent.

Senior Pesco functionaries, when contacted, said that the issue was taken up with the provincial government at the highest level in an effort to make the NWFP police act appropriately against those charged under the FIRs.

When Aftab Ahmed Sherpao was federal minister of water and power the provincial government had been moved to do the needful in fulfilment of its obligation to take action against those facing FIRs, the sources said. "But even that did not work as the provincial government did not pay heed to the minister's directives," said an official. The sitting minister, too, said during his Peshawar visit that the provincial government would be moved again to take action against those facing FIRs in fulfilment of its legal obligation.

Officials said the government had been giving cold shoulder to Wapda's requests because taking action against the culprits named in the FIRs could trigger a law and order situation, particularly in areas where the problem of power pilferage was of acute nature.

Of the 3,874 FIRs lodged in various parts of the province since last February, some 3,614 have been registered against domestic consumers and 226 against commercial consumers.

Pesco sources said the company was making minimal recoveries of its monthly electricity bills in areas lying on the outskirts of Peshawar, including Badhber, Landi Arbab, Mathra and Koochian.

The situation, they said, was equally worrisome in the Bannu and Dera Ismail Khan districts where the company was incurring huge financial losses because of non-payment of electricity bills and power pilferage. "There are certain areas on the outskirts of Peshawar where Wapda's billing staff cannot dare go to deliver monthly electricity bills," said an official.