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ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) kept suspending power supply for two days to the Capital Development Authority (CDA) offices for non-payment of bills against streetlights and the Parliament Lodges.
However, a senior officer of the CDA said that on Tuesday evening Iesco restored the power supply when the dues were paid.
Earlier, a spokesperson of Iesco, Raja Asim, said they suspended CDA’s electricity due to nonpayment of bills mainly against streetlights. He said millions of rupees were pending against the civic agency and instead of suspending power to streetlights Iesco had cut off supply to the main CDA building.
CDA and Iesco have for long been at loggerhead over billing of streetlights as the company charges CDA on the basis of lights, not through metering system. While CDA often complains of overcharging saying without any metering system, Iesco issues exaggerated bills on assumption.
However, the Iesco spokesperson said in the past it was decided that CDA will pay against demand notice for metering system, which was still pending.
“They made a partial payment and we installed meters against that but whenever they will make full payment we will install the required numbers of meters,” he said.A CDA board member said charges against streetlights were illogical.
“We want a legal solution. The CDA is being charged on the basis of assumption,” he said.He said some officers briefed CDA Chairman Amer Ali Ahmed that instead of suspending electricity abruptly, Iesco should have given appropriate time to CDA to pay the dues. The officers requested the chairman to allow them to launch an operation against Iesco headquarters, which was built on a school plot.
However, the sources said, the chairman did not allow them and said he would take up the issue with Iesco high-ups and the federal government for an amicable solution.
The Iesco spokesperson: “We suspended electricity due to default, if they are now saying that our building is on school plot, we will look into it, but it could be their reaction nothing else.”
Published in Dawn, May 26th, 2021
