SUKKUR: The city witnessed a wave of protests against the Sukkur Electric Supply Company (Sepco) on Monday after most households and commercial consumers received bills of heavy amounts in the name of penalty for power theft.

Residents of many areas took to the streets against what they described as “insult and high-handedness” on the part of Sepco.

A UC chairman, Mohammad Yaseen Arain, who along with Mohammed Shafi, Ms Urooj Begum, Ms Khairunnisa, Shamim, Naseem Ahmed and others led a demonstration outside the local press club, said that there was no justification of issuing the so-called ‘detection bills’ to any consumer now when Sepco had replaced the open wires with insulated cables, leaving no chance for anyone to draw electricity through a hook (kunda). Sepco had implemented various other measures to check power theft, he said.

Speaking to protesters coming from Takkar Mohalla, Ayub Gate, Munawwar Masjid, Station Road and other localities, other leaders said that line losses occurring despite all these measures clearly showed that Sepco officials or workers themselves were providing illegal connections to unscrupulous elements.

In order to shift the burden of the line losses to honest consumers, these elements would report ‘power theft’, ultimately making the local Sepco management issue detection bills to most consumers, which was unfair and condemnable, they said.

They urged the higher Sepco authorities to look into the “corrupt practices” and save consumers from the unfairly exorbitant bills as well as the insulting attitude towards them.

Meanwhile, the Sukkur Small Traders Association (SSTA), which has been spearheading a campaign against Sepco on the same issue for several weeks, intensified it on Monday by erecting banners against Sepco and issuance of detection bills across the city.

SSTA president Haji Jawed Memon, speaking to its members, said that issuance of detection bills was tantamount to accusing and penalising all consumers of the affected localities which was absolutely unacceptable.

A representative delegation of all organisations of shopkeepers, traders and cottage industry called on All Sukkur Small Traders and Cottage Industries (ASSTCI) president Haji Haroon Memon in his office to discuss the issue.

The representatives included Haji Jawed Memon, Haji Ghulam Shabbir Bhutto, Abdul Sattar Rajput, Lala Yasir, Aamir Farooqi, Jawed Khoso, Said Mohammed Shah, Dr Saeed Awan, Mohammed Munir Memon, Abdul Bari Ansari, Shakeel Qureshi, Abdul Qadir Shawani, Zubair Qureshi, Pervez Channa, Babu Farooqi, Sharif Dada, Jhanday Shah and Shakeel Qureshi.

The meeting discussed the future course of action if Sepco did not withdraw the inflated bills and issue ones based on actual meter reading.

It rejected all claims and allegations made by Sepco to justify issuance of detection bills to consumers and demanded action against all functionaries of the utility involved in corrupt practices and power theft.

Haji Jawed Memon described the detection bills as “extortion”.

The meeting also urged the judiciary to intervene in the matter in the greater interest of the general public, which was being “fleeced” by Sepco.

Haji Haroon Memon said the campaign would be intensified in the next few weeks if the utility did not take corrective measures at the earliest. He announced that a sit-in would be held outside Sepco offices in the city on Tuesday (today).

Published in Dawn, September 25th, 2018