WAPDA employees are behind power pilferage: NA committee told

ISLAMABAD: Ministry of Water and Power Secretary Younus Dhagha has said that WAPDA employees are involved in electricity pilferage and the government faces difficulties in launching any action against them because of weaknesses in the system.

He admitted this in a National Assembly (NA) standing committee here on Monday. The committee met here under chairman committee Arshid Khan Leghari Monda.

The Minister for Water and Power admitted before the committee that "Kissan Ittehad Council (KIC) is a gang which uses electricity by depositing Rs 1000 to Rs 2000 per metre. KIC has thrashed the employees but the proceedings could not go ahead due to intervention of Punjab government. Khawaja Asif also offered to the Sindh government to reduce the outstanding electricity bill even if they agreed to pay it in installments.

The Minister was responding to the complaints by Syed Ghulam Mustafa Shah and Nawab Muhammad Yousuf Talpur, both belonging to the PPP and Sindh province. They complained that power distribution companies of Sindh were poorly managed and prolonged load shedding occurred there.

Ghulam Mustafa Shah said that the consumers of Sukkur Electric Power Company (SEPCO) faced up to 16 hours of load shedding.