ISLAMABAD: The National Power Control Centre (NPC) was directed on Thursday to disconnect supply to Karachi Electric Supply Company (KESC) if it exceeded its allocated quota of 650MW.

Minister of State for Water and Power Abid Sher Ali told journalists after a visit to the NPC that he had directed the power control centre to write a letter to KESC, warning it of shutdown if it used even a single megawatt more than its allocated quota of 650MW.

The minister issued a separate directive calling for the warning to be published in the print media and said that Sindh chief minister, the chief secretary and inspector general of police should be intimated through a copy of the proposed letter to brace for any law and order problem, if one arose in wake of the decision.

He regretted that the KESC had violated the agreement several times by drawing up to 700MW and described it as discrimination with other sectors which had been experiencing serious shortfall.

Mr Ali sought record of the past six months to assess how much losses had been caused to the national exchequer by the KESC.

He said the National Transmission Despatched Company and the KESC would be put to a third party audit to resolve problems between them and ensure transparency in the power system.

The minister said a smart metering system was being introduced to overcome power theft, adding that 98 per cent feeders in Khyber Pakhtunkhwa were incurring losses because of power theft.—APP