KARACHI: The row between K-Electric and the Karachi Metropolitan Corporation over outstanding dues against each other further deepened on Wednesday as the city’s municipal administration, which has been without electricity for the past five days, continued to dismantle the power utility’s installations and structures on streets, roads and parks.

The two organisations are at loggerheads since June 28 when KE disconnected as many as 71 power connections of the KMC, including its head office on M.A. Jinnah Road, due to non-payment of monthly electricity bills.

The municipal administration, which had to conduct its council meeting for budget approval in the lawns of its head office following the disconnection of power supply on Friday morning, demolished walls and gate of a KE office on Elander Road in an apparent response to power disconnection to its office.

The disconnection of the KMC’s multiple power connections not only badly affected the affairs of the municipal body, including payment of pensions and salaries of the staff, but it also led to closure of several KMC-run parks in the city.

Mayor Wasim Akhtar told Dawn that the finance department of the KMC after reconciliation with KE authorities had brought down the corporation’s dues and now they were liable to pay Rs2.5 billion for its 274 connections.

He said that he had informed the Supreme Court during a hearing that the KMC would not able to pay KE’s outstanding bills due to its financial constrains and the court had ordered the provincial government to pay corporation’s outstanding dues.

KMC’s anti-encroachment chief, Bashir Siddiqui, said that the anti-encroachment staff carried out its action against “encroachments” to vacate the space on footpaths, parks and amenity plots in different areas of the city.

He said that various concrete structures were razed by the anti-encroachment staff who also seized material from the spots during this action.

“The security room, parking and other constructions made by K-Electric on the pavement of Tipu Sultan Road were also removed,” he said adding that the action was taken to facilitate peoples’ movement who had trouble while using footpaths.

Mr Siddiqui said that the KMC staff faced no resistance during the action and demolished all constructions on footpath and seized the material there.

KE condemns KMC

The KE strongly condemned damage to its property by the KMC staff following the disconnection of KMC’s multiple power connections.

A spokesman for the power utility said that the KMC continued destroying KE property without serving any advance notice, in blatant disregard of court orders.

He said the municipal administration was restrained from taking any action against K-Electric without following the procedure of law, still it continued to violate court orders and damaged KE infrastructure at Tipu Sultan Road and North Nazimabad customer care centres respectively creating severe hindrance in KE’s services to its customers.

“KMC’s demolition at the respective KE customer care centres have also caused both distress and inconvenience to the power utility’s customers who were forced to leave because of adverse circumstances,” he added.

The spokesman said that no action could be taken against KE without serving it with a minimum two-day notice as per orders of the court in KE’s suit dated July 1, 2019.

“The municipal body owes PKR 4.11 billion to the power utility and the Supreme Court had directed the KMC to start paying monthly electricity bills from April 2019 onward,” he said and added that the power utility once again urged authorities concerned to pay outstanding dues at the earliest as per apex court’s orders.

KMC’s denial

Meanwhile, the KMC denied the KE’s allegations and said that the action against “encroachments” was being taken in accordance with the Supreme Court directive and laws pertaining to it.

“The action was routine work by KMC’s anti-encroachment staff and before going to take the action the concerned were issued with notice to vacate the space”, a spokesman for the municipal administration said.

He said that KE was also issued with the notice for occupying land on amenity plots and footpaths.

He said that the anti-encroachment action was continuing for the past many months therefore all those organisations and persons who had grabbed the land on footpaths or amenity plots should themselves vacate this space or KMC would take action and they would be held responsible for any loss.

The spokesmen said that the apex court had given clear directives for clearing footpaths from land grabbers and no notice was required for such action. “However notices were issued to K-Electric”, he added.

Published in Dawn, July 4th, 2019