ISLAMABAD: The Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) has set no deadline for the completion of a project for electrification of railway residential colonies and offices which started nearly two years ago.

As a result, the company keeps a large part of the cantonment area particularly Westridge without electricity for over six hours on every alternate day causing an acute shortage of water.

Ironically, while negotiating the project, Iesco officials had no coordination with the Rawalpindi Cantonment Board concerning the water supply on the days of power shutdown.

Residents of Westridge get water on every alternate day and, interestingly, Iesco carries out power shutdown for development work exactly on the day residents are supposed to get water.

This point was raised with Iesco Chief Executive Officer Dr Mohammad Amjad Khan several times but he gave no attention to the proposal that power supply can be suspended on the day the residents do not get water supply.

The officials concerned of Iesco Westridge subdivision also showed their inability to play any role in this regard, saying they had nothing to do with the construction work.

Dr Khan had no comments to offer on the deadline of the project completion and carrying out power shutdown on the days of water supply.

The company’s media officer, Raja Asim, also failed to respond to the calls made to him several times.

A senior official of Pakistan Railways told Dawn that Iesco had not given any deadline for the completion of the project. While the construction phase of the project has been completed, erecting cables and installation of meters were currently being carried out, he said. Altogether, electric meters have to be installed in over 3,700 residential houses and colonies of Pakistan Railways.

With rising cost of electricity, Pakistan Railways had decided not to bear the cost of electricity bills of railway colonies and houses and empowered power distribution companies in all the railway divisions in the country to bill the consumption of electricity to the occupants.

The project that will increase the revenue of Iesco is being implemented without keeping in view the hardship of people who are left without water and power for half a day every alternate day. Consumers are left without power supply for almost 25 hours every week.

With the start of the summer, the suspension of power supply has drastically affected the water supply in Westridge. Iesco has forced residents to buy water from private tankers to fulfil their needs.

If Iesco failed to revise its power shutdown schedule to ensure residents get water supply, the situation will aggravate in Ramazan, said Gul Zaman, a resident of Westridge.

Published in Dawn, April 2nd, 2022