09 November 2004	Tuesday	25 Ramazan 1425

LAHORE, Nov 8: The Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) is devising a strategy to give new connections within three days on clearing dues by any applicant.

Lesco Chief Akram Arain said all previous applications for new connections had been cleared. The company, he said, was in the process of arranging material, equipment and vehicles for executing the new strategy which envisaged new connection within three days. He hoped it would take the company a month or so to finalize and get ready to execute the policy.

The three-day deadline would be valid only for those customers who fell on the existing distribution system of Lesco or within a 40-metre radius. New connection that required new installations would have to wait a few more days, but they would also be cleared within a week, he said.

Talking about load growth, he said it grew over nine per cent, but the next year it was expected to hovering around seven per cent. He hoped the new distribution lines would be laid by the end of this year, and that should improve power distribution. So, meeting any additional load should not be a problem. Once these lines were in place, the country would be able to fully utilize the Ghazi Brotha Hydel Project and meet additional demand.