LAHORE: The Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) has issued notices to 841 more people for ‘illegally’ constructing houses and buildings for various uses under the high voltage power transmission and distribution lines emanating from the grid stations.

Earlier to this, the company had issued notices to 650 people in Lahore and other districts -- Kasur, Sheikhupura and Nankana Sahib -- to demolish such constructions.

“The notices are being issued keeping in view the occurrence of fatal/non-fatal accidents at such places. So far notices have been issued to 1,491 people by the respective Lesco authorities,” said Lesco Chief Executive Officer Chaudhry Muhammad Amin while presiding over a meeting here on Thursday.

It merits mentioning that the notices being issued by the company are not limited to construction of houses/buildings under the lines but to those as well who had encroached upon the land either by extending their buildings’ shades close to wires or taking their structures’ height to a level close to the lines.

A total of 1,491 people have been asked so far to raze shades close to wires

Some of the people had also approached National Electric Power Regulatory Authority (Nepra), urging it to stop Lesco from taking any further action against their constructions (houses etc). The company, in a response to Nepra, said the removal of high voltage transmission lines from the ‘existing right of way’ and shifting them to other places is not possible since it costs huge money.

The Lesco chief said the company’s respective departments have also removed several system constraints in a bid to ensure uninterrupted power supply to the consumers during Ramazan.

“We have created and energised 50 new 11kV feeders, carried out maintenance at 2,307km of the total 3,110km long 132kV transmission lines, trimming of trees and addition of new transformers and other equipment at grid stations,” he claimed.

Published in Dawn, March 25th, 2022