LAHORE: The Lahore Electric Supply Company’s (Lesco) Sheikhupura region has been bifurcated and Nankana Sahib separated into an independent circle.

The Lesco administration took the decision after approval from its board of directors (BoD), according to a senior company official. With this bifurcation of Sheikhupura circle, three new divisions and four subdivisions have also been created.

“Sheikhupura circle was overburdened with five divisions and over 20 subdivisions. Three divisions fell in Sheikhupura and two in Nankana Sahib. So, the company placed the matter before the BoD that approved the proposal,” the senior official told Dawn on Wednesday.

He said principally each circle and division should have four divisions and five subdivisions, respectively. Later, two more divisions and new subdivisions will be created in Lesco, he added. After the latest bifurcation, there would be two circles and five divisions each in Sheikhupura and Nankana. New subdivisions have also been created under the plan in this region, he said.

He said the newly created circle, divisions and subdivisions would start operations soon as recruitment of staff, getting buildings, allocation of budget and availability of other resources was under way these days. The bifurcation of Lesco was also under consideration, the official said.

At present, there are 191 operational subdivisions in all Lesco service areas -- Lahore, Kasur, Okara, Nankana Sahib and Sheikhupura. Of these, over 20 subdivisions are dealing with more than 30,000 consumers each -- the highest as compared to subdivisions of other distribution companies.

“We are also considering bifurcation of our construction circle since it faces immense workload leading to delay in accomplishing several pending jobs. The bifurcation will overall help the company improve governance,” the official explained.

Published in Dawn, January 18th, 2018