ISLAMABAD: A sub-committee of the Senate Stan­ding Committee on Water and Power on Wed­nesday was informed that several grid stations in Khyber Pakh­tunkhwa were rendered non-functional or were underperforming mainly due to low quality equipment procured from China.

The sub-committee cha­ired by Senator Nisar Muhammad directed the Ministry of Water and Power to procure machinery and equipment from reputed companies instead of sticking to one company or country.

In a briefing to the committee, officials of the Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) cited substandard equipment and lack of funds for repairing machinery as the main reasons behind prolonged power outages in the province.

When questioned by Senator Muhammad as to where the imported equipment was coming from, the power utility officials shied away from answering the question. However, Senator Ahmed Hassan mentioned that the poor quality equipment was being supplied by Chinese companies to Pesco.

Power riots occurred in several cities and towns of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa during the month of May. During one such protest in Dargai area of Malakand Agency, the protesters ransacked a Wapda office and later turned their anger towards law enforcement agencies called in to control the situation. The clashes led to the death of one protester and caused injuries to several others.

“Despite a recovery of around 97pc from Malakand division, load shedding in the area was unjustified,” Senator Muhammad said.

The sub-committee noted the death of a youth during protest by the locals against load shedding was a sad incident.

It observed that the government’s policy to conduct load shedding in areas with low recovery was justified but load shedding in Malakand division was beyond understanding.

The Senate body was informed that the forced load shedding was due to tripping of an electricity feeder in Malakand.

The sub-committee recommended strict action against consumers getting electricity without meters in Peshawar area.

The meeting was informed that an addition Rs300 billion has been marked in the development budget of the upcoming fiscal year, and Pesco has been allocated Rs500 million additional funds.

However the existing budget was less compared to the need of the areas and many contractors have stopped supplies due to non-payment of their dues.

Pesco officials said the transformers were overloaded and 90pc consumers were not paying their bills.

The officials said 58 transformers were disconnected in Khyber circle but the people had installed them after purchasing them from the market.

The sub-committee was informed that police cannot enter that area and a request has been forwarded to the army too but there has not been any success in this regard.

The affected people of Warsak dam claim they are entitled to free electricity as it was part of their agreement with the government.

Despite a waiver of Rs3bn outstanding amount out of the total Rs6bn, the defaulters were not paying their installments.

The members expressed reservations over the huge pending amount and it was decided that the sub-committee would meet with the local elders to resolve the issue.

Published in Dawn, June 22nd, 2017