KARACHI, Nov 19: The Karachi Electric Supply Corporation has said that promotion of its 14 zonal managers, subordinate engineers and billing officials of the power distribution zones will be conditional on containment of power theft and at least one per cent reduction in transmission and distribution losses each month, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

Presiding over a meeting, attended by all distribution engineers and billing department officials, KESC managing- director Brig Tariq Sadozai evaluated the area-wise performance of the officials in respect of reduction in power theft, improvement in recovery bills and speedy rectification of power failure complaints.

Brig Sadozai asked all the zonal managers to constitute fresh teams and supplement the efforts of the army monitoring teams during their night checking of power thefts in shopping malls, bachat bazaars and cricket match venues.

Immediate connection policy has also been accorded approval and from now on anybody found using electricity without payment would be rounded up and released only after realization of power loads being utilized, he said.

Meanwhile, KESC’s surveillance and theft detection team unearthed two major theft cases in Federal B. Area on Sunday.

The team conducted raid on Allahwala Shopping Centre in Block 21 in the F.B. Area and found two of its meters tampered with and connected directly and by passing two phase and stealing 26KW power, while the second one by reversing the meter, stealing 18KW power.

In another raid, the team disconnected the power to Abasin Market for using direct connection and running 20 shops, 16 rooms in a hotel and restaurant. Manager of the market, Mohammad Fatehyab, and Allahwala Shopping Centre’s chief Mohammad Iqbal were arrested, while the owners, Saleem Haider and Mohammad Aslam Khan, are still at large.

The army monitoring teams’ rechecking operations and anti-kunda campaign have entered the second week.—PPI/APP