KARACHI, May 23: The Sindh electricity inspector has not carried out any inspections of industrial installations for the past two years. The Sindh electricity inspector carries out inspections under Rule 5(1) of Section 48 of the Electricity Rules 1937.

Sources told Dawn on Monday that unable to collect inspection fees, the Sindh government suffered a loss of Rs40 million on an annual basis.

When contacted, the Sindh electricity inspector, Karim Baksh Shaikh, said that the operations of his inspectorate were suspended under a government notification.

The sources said the notification was issued on Aug 13, 2003 and declared that the Sindh electric inspector would not carry out inspections.

They recalled that the notification was issued by former irrigation secretary Imtiaz Ahmed Qazi. But it was signed by deputy irrigation secretary Saeed Ahmad Sathar.

The chairman of the Site association, Mirza Ikhtiar Baig, said the operations of electricity inspectors were suspended in industrial areas following intense lobbying by the business community.

“The electricity inspectors used to come and ask for no-objection certificates for power generators installed by industrial units. If the government cannot provide electricity, it has no right to issue no-objection certificates to those opting for self-generation. The reason why industries invest in self-generation is that they cannot receive adequate electricity from the KESC,” he said.

The electricity inspectors would issue fitness certificates as well, he said, adding that they would also calculate how much electricity duty was payable. “They used to do their job in return for bribes offered by businessmen. We asked the government to suspend the operations of electricity inspectors and promised that we would pay electricity duty on a self-assessment basis. We also decided to get authorized electric dealers to issue us fitness certificates,” he said.

The Sindh electricity inspector, Karim Baksh Shaikh, said he was considering reactivating his inspectorate.