Power crisis

Power crisis

Sunday, October 26, 2008

Sunday, October 26, 2008
It is well known that more than 30 per cent of electricity produced is lost due to theft. Many times I have seen 'kundas' (wires connected to overhead cables) providing electricity to houses. But this is not the only way of stealing electricity. Another way is to remove the neutral wire from the metre, and connect it inside the house to an earth outlet, like a water pipe.

By doing so, the electricity flows only one way through the metre, which does not record the consumption. For three or four days in a month, the neutral in the metre is restored, so that the metre records usage only during this period.

Maybe this is why there are thousands of consumers who get bills for less than a hundred units every month (despite using air conditioners and refrigerators). The KESC female staff (accompanied by male technicians and a magistrate, if necessary) should be allowed to inspect such premises and stop this robbery.

The power company staff should also check whether metres are recording actual consumption or not. Linemen routinely offer residents to rig their metres so that only a third of the consumption is recorded, the money thus saved to be shared equally between the consumer and the lineman.

Shakir Lakhani

Karachi