LAHORE: The Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) has borrowed 20,000 single-phase meters from the Gujranwala Electric Power Company (Gepco).

The measure was taken to temporarily overcome the shortage and resolve the issues being faced by the people while getting new electricity connections, Lesco — the country’s largest power distribution company in terms of power consumption and number of consumers — is all set to float tenders in the next couple of days for the procurement of as many as 750,000 single-phase meters, Dawn has learned.

“Due to the shortage of meters, people have been facing delays in getting new connections. This is why we have temporarily arranged around 20,000 meters by borrowing them from Gepco. We already have around 11,000 meters,” Lesco Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Shahid Haidar told Dawn on Friday.

“This will help us manage for one month without shortage by providing power connections to the people on time,” he maintained. He said after one month, the company may borrow more from other companies until the completion of the tender/bidding procedures and procurement of the new meters. There are various companies that already have sufficient stocks of meters. Therefore, we can procure meters easily immediately after awarding the contract to any eligible company.

According to him, in the first phase, the company will obtain at least 100,000 single-phase meters, followed by the remaining ones in subsequent phases. Mr. Haidar said there is no issue related to the availability of three-phase meters.

“We already have a number of three-phase meters, and such connections are being provided within the timeline,” the Lesco chief maintained.

Meanwhile, various Lesco teams, according to a spokesman, detected as many as 600 connections from which customers were pilfering electricity in all its circles across five districts (Lahore, Sheikhupura, Nankana Sahib, Kasur, and Okara) during its ongoing anti-power theft campaign in the last 24 hours.

The company also submitted FIR applications against electricity thieves, out of which 235 FIRs were registered in respective police stations, while 33 suspects have been arrested by the respective police. The spokesman added that a large number of commercial consumers were also found involved in electricity theft, and all of them were disconnected and charged with detection units.

Among the seized connections, one was industrial, 18 were commercial, four were agricultural, and 577 were domestic. All these connections were disconnected and charged with a total of 428,278 units as a detection bill amounting to Rs18.382 million.

GAS PILFERAGE: Sui Northern Gas Pipelines Limited teams on Friday disconnected another 69 illegal connections, imposing fines amounting to Rs3.1 million.

In Lahore, according to a spokesman, e SNGPL teams disconnected 14 illegal connections and levied fines totaling Rs950,000. In Faisalabad, 10 illegal connections were severed, with a penalty of Rs210,000 imposed.

Sheikhupura saw the disconnection of three illegal connections and the imposition of Rs1.11 million in fines on gas thieves.

Further actions included the disconnection of 11 connections in Bahawalpur due to compressor usage, while Multan teams disconnected one illegal connection and 12 others for compressor misuse.

Sahiwal authorities imposed Rs210,000 in fines related to gas theft.

SEALED: Lahore Development Authority teams on Friday sealed 48 properties and demolished five at Pine Avenue, PIA Road, Faisal Town, Gulberg, Poonch Road Samanabad, and Sabzazar schemes for non-payment of commercialisation fees.

The sealed properties included tire shops, private schools, academies, oil stores, furniture shops, grocery stores, food points, pharmacies, and other stores.

LDA teams partially demolished five properties on Pine Avenue and PIA Road.

Illegal shop constructions, shutters on PIA Road, and the structure of a hall on Pine Avenue were demolished. These properties were sealed and demolished due to illegal commercial use and non-payment of commercial fees. Multiple notices had been issued to these properties before the operation.

Published in Dawn, October 26th, 2024