ISLAMABAD, Aug 2: Power supply to Federal Lodges, which was disconnected by Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) on Monday due to non-payment of outstanding bills by the Capital Development Authority (CDA), was restored on Tuesday after officials from both the sides agreed to resolve the issue.
The suspension of electricity to the lodges, where senior bureaucrats and politicians live, put a lot of pressure on the CDA bosses compelling them to request Iesco to restore the supply.
“We cut electricity to the CDA offices after its outstanding dues crossed Rs700 million mark,” said Iesco spokesman Farooq Ahmed.
He said the power supply company had served many notices on the CDA and also placed an advertisement in the press warning all defaulters to pay their dues or face action. Iesco has declared the CDA one of its major defaulters in its region, he added.
When contacted, CDA spokesman Ramzan Sajid said Iesco had sent an inflated bill of over Rs1 billion to the CDA but the company cut it down to Rs700 million on the resistance of the civic agency. “The officials of the CDA and Iesco sat together and came to the conclusion that the authority has to pay only Rs350 million,” he said.
The official said Iesco was assured on Tuesday that it would receive a check for Rs400 million against the outstanding dues on Wednesday. He, however, lamented that Iesco always cut power supply to CDA offices and important buildings despite the fact that the dues were actually related to streetlights.
“Each and every department and building of the CDA pays separate electricity bills and there is no liability on them in terms of power dues. Even then, their power connections are cut only to put pressure on the CDA management,” he said.
A senior official of the CDA's finance wing also accused Iesco of sending inflated and unmeasured or estimated bills. “We are using every third streetlight to save energy but even then the Iesco is sending us the same bills,” he said.
The CDA spokesman said the authority was also considering imposing property tax on the power supply company's installations. “In any case, we cannot put off streetlights due to security concerns,” he said. Meanwhile, the CDA bosses have prepared a list of 30 installations and offices of Wapda and Iesco in the city which they said were 'illegal'.
It has been learnt that not only Wapda's Rawal Rest House at Dhokri Chowk but also some installations of Iesco, including its store established in more than one acre in a park at G-7, another store in Sector I-8 and the additional construction in H-9 grid station have been declared unauthorised or illegal by the civic body.
“The CDA only gave permission for installation of grid stations but residential units and offices have been established there without approval,” said a member of the CDA.
He said the company had got land at many locations from the CDA without making payments. On the other hand, it charged the CDA for installation of grid stations and laying of transmission lines. The official said Iesco had given its building near Zero Point to Urdu University on rent which was against CDA rules.
However, it is intriguing why the civic authority never took action against such violations when they were being committed.— Staff Reporter