KARACHI, Feb 13: The KESC on Sunday disconnected power supply to two major water installations of the KWSB, its two residential colonies and a number of offices, including its head office, on account of non-payment of electricity charges.

The water installations, offices and colonies whose power supply was disconnected included the LSR pumping station and its hydrant, main office, situated on 9th Mile Karsaz, head office located behind the Civic Centre, and Gulshan-i-Iqbal's water trunk main office.

However, a spokesman for the KWSB said the electricity of the LSR pumping station and its hydrant, disconnected at 10am on Sunday, was restored at 5pm the same day.

"As there was no electricity at the LSR pumping station for seven long hours, water supply to various parts of the city was badly affected," he said, adding that localities which suffered the most included KDA Scheme-1, 1-A, Dhoraji, Adamjee Nagar, Bangalore Town, Al-Hamra Society, Jinnah Cooperative Housing Society, Sharfabad, Bahadurabad, PECHS (Green-belt area), other adjoining societies, Mehmoodabad and Manzoor Colony.

Besides, water supply through tankers was also affected at the LSR hydrant from where around 100 tankers are dispatched daily to water-starved localities, he added.

Criticising the KESC for taking such a harsh action in Muharram, a senior official of the KWSB said it was beyond one's comprehension why the KESC resorted to disconnecting power supply of the KWSB offices and installations when some concrete measures had already been taken at a meeting.

The said meeting was convened shortly after the power utility organisation had taken a similar action against the KWSB in December last. Elaborating, he said the high-level meeting which was attended by the city nazim, Niamatullah Khan, Sindh governor's principal secretary, Brig (Retd) Akhtar Zamin and the KWSB managing director, Brig Iftikhar Haider, had already suggested the governor to set up a commission under the chairmanship of a high court judge to help resolve the lingering issue of outstanding power charges between the KWSB and the KESC.

"We have also told the KESC, which claims that there were outstanding power bills amounting to Rs627 million, that even after deduction of the amount, which the KWSB has already paid to the KESC under the head of late payment surcharge, the KESC will have to pay back Rs46m to the KWSB," the official said.

He added, "The KWSB has also asked the power utility organisation to demand electricity bills either on a yearly basis or twice a year, as the KWSB gets water bills from its consumers on a yearly basis."