KARACHI, Oct 31: Power supply to the head-office and other main offices of the Karachi Water and Sewerage Board was restored on Wednesday after one week of suspension.
The KESC had stopped supplying power to the KWSB head offices and its other offices at Karsaz on Thursday last on account of non-payment of electricity bills which, according to sources, had soared to over Rs3 billion.
The power supply has reportedly been restored following an assurance given by the high-ups of the KWSB to the KESC that payment of outstanding dues would be start shortly after the KWSB started receiving payments from its defaulting consumers, mainly government organisations.
The Sindh chief secretary has directed the defaulting departments to deposit 10 per cent of their accumulative water charges. The KWSB has also discontinued water supply to these departments for their failure to clear the outstanding dues.
Meanwhile, the KWSB on Wednesday restored water connections of some bulk consumers after receiving a lump sum payment amounting to Rs150 million from them as part of their outstanding dues.
The organisations whose water supply was restored on Wednesday include the Pakistan Steels, Karachi Port Trust, National Refinery, Baqai Medical University, Murshid Hospital, Maymar Housing, Pak Land Cement, Gul Ahmed, etc.
A spokesman for the KWSB said that of the total Rs150 million realised on Wednesday, Rs140 million was paid by the Pakistan Steels alone.
Reiterating that the campaign against the defaulting industrial and commercial concerns will continue till the recovery of dues, the spokesman urged all its bulk consumers to ensure payment of water bills at the earliest to avoid disconnection.
