| 07 January 2005 | Friday | 25 Ziqa'ad 1425 |
A sorry state of affairs
Bahawalpur district enjoys a strategic position. It is situated almost in the centre of the country. The roads originating from here provide safe journey and short route to both heavy and light traffic bound for Karachi or upcountry.
But the road network around the district is unsatisfactory as many road projects here need the urgent attention of the authorities concerned, especially the National Highway Authority (NHA).
Currently, work on the under-construction dualization of about 100 kilometres long Bahawalpur Ahmedpur East road is already much delayed. Work on this Rs1,330 million project, which was started by NHA in January 2004, was to be completed by December last.
So far, even one lane has not been completed. Motorists and commuters have to face great difficulties. During the chief minister's visit in April last, the Bahawalpur Chamber of Commerce and Industry drew his attention towards the slow pace of work with the request that work should be accelerated. Now, NHA officials claim that the project could be completed by March next.
Some time back, the NHA constructed a carpeted road between Bahawalpur and Multan. With its construction, dualization came into being as an old road already existed there.
The authorities introduced one-way traffic. But the old road was not carpeted although the situation demanded that it should also be improved on the same pattern so that the heavy and light vehicular traffic going to Multan and upcountry had the same facility and chances of accident were minimized.
The National Highway Authority carried out repair work but it was done on a TST (triple surface treatment) formula. The TST method is not at par with the carpeting pattern and traffic could not pass smoothly.
As most of the old road to Multan is still being manually repaired, the one-way traffic rule is being violated by both heavy and light vehicular traffic posing a threat to the lives of commuters.
During night time there is flagrant violation of this rule as the portion from Basti Malak is being repaired. It is surprising that even the motorway police are unable to check the vehicles using the carpeted road instead of the old one. It is also necessary to raise the level of the old road.
The NHA should draw up a new plan for the construction of this old road in accordance with modern technology in view of the fast growing number of heavy vehicles.
Another road which is constantly being ignored by NHA is Lodhran-Khanewal Road. It was constructed in the late sixties and since then only a small amount has been spent on its repair.
Most of the heavy traffic coming from Karachi via Bahawalpur passes through Lodhran and Khanewal enroute to upcountry to avoid the lengthy route of Multan. Due to the increasing heavy traffic on this road, the NHA should plan its dualization, which would go a long way towards promoting communication in this area.
It will also prove beneficial for the economy. If the NHA finalizes the plan for dualization today, even then it will take many years to execute it. So, without wasting more time, the government should give a serious thought to this proposal.
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There is a general complaint of overloading in buses on inter-city routes. Even air-conditioned coaches are indulging in this illegal practice. Buses and wagons on rural routes stuff passengers like goats and sheep. Passengers are also seen sitting on the roofs of buses.
Overcharging by transporters is also going on in the absence of any check by the authorities concerned. If anyone objects to overcharging, he is off loaded. Passengers complain that transporters are charging Rs10 instead of Rs5 as fare between Bahawalpur and Khanqah Sharif. Remedial measures are required to protect the passengers.
A sorry state of affairs
The federal government has not followed through on its decision to corporatize four of the many distribution companies it had created out of the burgeoning Water and Power Development Authority.
Attribute this to hard-to-believe and rarely exhibited better sense or to a lapse of institutional memory, the bottom line is that the NWFP has been saved from much confusion and trouble.
Had the federal government acted on its decision to corporatize the Peshawar Electricity Supply Company (Pesco) on the cut-off date of Dec 31, 2004, the outcome would have been quite horrendous.
Consider this: the decision to corporatize Pesco would have meant that the federal government, and for that matter Wapda, would leave the ever loss-incurring power distribution company to fend for itself. Plainly put, corporatization meant that Pesco was required to earn to be able to spend.
On the face of it, the decision seems logical and fits into the government's policy objective to privatize public sector units. But nowhere in the world it would be considered a sane idea to corporatize a company that may, in all probability, shut down shortly and cut off supply to over two million consumers.
Does it require too much of imagination to conjure up the fallout from such an eventuality in terms of law and order in the NWFP. Let's look at the problem with facts and figures.
Pesco falls third in line in terms of loss-making, preceded by the Tribal Electricity Supply Company (Tesco) and the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco), with the Quetta Electric Supply Company (Quesco) coming fourth.
Pesco's line losses have been calculated at 37 per cent whereas on the recovery side it faces a shortfall of about 10 per cent, although recovery from private consumers has shown a steady increase from 72 per cent over a couple of years ago to now 90 per cent. The 10 per cent shortfall has been attributed to consumers in the so-called de facto tribal areas who have never paid any bills.
Attempts by Pesco to make them pay by cutting off power supply have prompted violent protests that often resulted in dynamiting of its transmission towers that connect settled districts to the federally administered tribal regions. The provincial government on its part, for fear of law and order, has yet to show it has the guts to deal with this increasingly problematic situation.
Nepra, that had initially calculated Pesco's distribution and transmission losses at 37 per cent, suddenly changed tacks, saying that only 15 per cent of those losses were prudent, asking its worried chief executive to cut down his losses to 22 per cent.
There is no magic solution to this owing to the Frontier's own peculiar socio-economic problems. Never in its history has Wapda been able to bring down its loss by even one per cent in the NWFP.
Even to achieve this seemingly impossible goal, Pesco requires investment to reduce its technical losses and improve its transmission lines. It has been six months and Pesco has yet to receive the Ecnec-approved Rs 2.25 billion for 2004-2005.
Accordingly, not a single paisa has been spent on improving the system. To add insult to injury, Nepra in its own wisdom approved Pesco's operating expenses from Rs 2.850 billion to Rs 2.3335 billion, leaving a gaping hole of approximately Rs 500 million.
Ironically, by doing so officials at Nepra apparently did not take into account the very fact that Pesco's operating expenses last year were Rs 2.465 billion. So even if one incorporates the escalation in fuel prices and the resultant inflation and increase in salary bill, the amount would register an increase rather than decrease over the last year.
Instead, Pesco was asked to borrow from the banks. The sad story is that no bank is willing to lend money to a company that has negative equity and a poor balance sheet. It could also not get any money from the Public Sector Development Programme (PSDP) and, therefore, nothing has been spent on development in the power sector in the NWFP this year.
The bottom line is that if Pesco is corporatized, it will not be able to pay for its operations with the result that it wouldn't be able to pay the NTDC the cost of electricity it gets and distributes. And if the federal government and Wapda follow through on their decision, Pesco will be left high and dry within two months.
This is the sorry state of affairs of an electricity supply company of a province whose own contribution to the national grid in terms of hydel generation is over 4,000 megawatts compared with its total consumption of about 1,600 megawatts.
The point is that the NWFP has no qualms about paying even Rs five billion as fuel adjustment surcharge although the electricity it consumes is hydel-generated, that too at less than a rupee per unit.
And what do we get net profits. These have remained capped at Rs six billion, a billion rupees more than what we pay in terms of fuel adjustment surcharge, and that too after much cajoling and begging.
Fine, privatize Pesco. But then let Wapda hand over the hydel power stations at Tarbela, Warsak and other places to it as well. Simply put, you cannot have your cake and eat it too.
Pesco is sick but no one leaves a sick man to fend for himself or die. Let the government review its decision and give enough money to Pesco to stand on its own feet before putting it up for sale to the private sector.