LAHORE: Kasur has left all districts behind when it comes to power theft, as almost half of the total 20 highest loss-making grid stations of Punjab exist there, causing Rs40 billion losses annually, which is 40 per cent of the total theft costing nearly Rs100bn to Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) in the province.

The situation has forced the authorities to intensify operations against electricity pilferage in the district.

On the other hand, some leading politicians belonging to various political parties approached the Lesco management on Tuesday after suspension of power supply for almost 12 hours on Monday night to 77 high-loss feeders in a number of areas falling within its jurisdiction, Dawn has learnt.

These politicians also requested the Lesco management to punish only those consumers who are involved in power theft, as shutting down high-loss feeders for hours also affects those paying their bills regularly.

“There are total 103 high-loss feeders in all service areas of Lesco falling in Lahore, Kasur, Okara, Sheikhupura and Nankana Sahib. Of these, 77 feeders are in Kasur alone, placing the district on top of the list in power theft,” a Lesco source told Dawn on Tuesday.

He says the Lesco management reported the issue to top authorities in power division on Monday, getting a go-ahead for suspending power supply to all areas being supplied power through these loss-making feeders.

According to the official, who requested anonymity, the the power thieves had stopped pilferage during the day time due to continuous raids by Lesco teams and resorted to theft during night hours.

“When it was brought to the knowledge of the most senior officials, they directed the authorities in Lahore to better suspend supply to such areas during night hours to stop the pilferage. Following this, the power supply was kept suspended for almost 12 hours on Monday night that forced the consumers to involve the local politicians (former MNAs, MPAs etc) from Kasur and other parts of the division, who approached Lesco management,” he explained.

Meanwhile, a senior official of the Ministry of Energy (Power Division) confirmed the development, saying Kasur is like a tribal area causing billions of rupees loss to Lesco because of massive electricity theft.

“In Punjab, the government has been facing a loss of Rs99bn in the form of power theft. Of this, about Rs40bn theft is being reported from Kasur district (Lahore Division) alone, annually,” the official says.

Desiring not to be named, the official says there are around 20 highest loss making grid stations in Punjab, out of which nine are in Kasur district alone. He says Lesco has, however, been asked not to shut the supply to the high-loss feeders after the local politicians assured of full cooperation with the field teams in eliminating power theft.

The official says one of the reasons behind the massive power theft in Kasur is that the district includes border areas and belts along riverbeds of Sutlej and Beas where law-enforcement was a hard task.

“These areas have almost become like tribal belts where criminals routinely flout law. That is why they are stealing electricity without fear,” he explains.

Meanwhile, the Lesco teams on the 26th consecutive day of the anti-power theft drive, got arrested 132 power thieves and detected pilferage on 501 connections in all the five districts. According to a spokesman, the applications for registration of FIRs against 498 electricity thieves have been submitted to the respective police stations, out of which 391 FIRs have been registered, while 132 accused have been arrested.

An official says the connections where power theft was detected include two industrial, nine agricultural, 13 commercial and 477 domestic, adding that supply to all these has been disconnected. He says all the electricity pilferers have also been charged a total of 758,052 detection units worth Rs39.980 million.

He says that separately constituted teams also recovered Rs21 million from 1,359 chronic defaulters on Tuesday.

Published in Dawn, October 4th, 2023