The Senate Standing Committee on Energy was told that there were 1,389,184 cases of electrical cable hooking, locally known as kunda connections, across the country, with the Sukkur Electric Power Company (Sepco) region having the largest number of such connections.
Senator Saifullah Abro, who chairs the committee, was briefed on power theft from the direct line (kunda system) and meter manipulation in different areas. Sepco alone identified 593,913 cases of wire hooking, according to the committee.
Peshawar Electric Supply Company (Pesco) has 48,823 cases, Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (Hesco) has 277,793, Multan Electric Power Company (Mepco) has 105,856, and Islamabad Electric Supply Company (Iesco) has 803 such connections, according to the committee.
The committee chairman was upset as to why the ‘kunda culture’ was taking so long to be eradicated. He advocated for the creation of a comprehensive system to combat the common practice. The committee will look into the specifics of power theft at the district level in its next meeting.
The committee was dissatisfied that the advertisement for the position of managing director of the Genco Holding Company Limited had not been published (GHCL). Behramand Tangi, a committee member, said that once a promise was made, it had to be kept.
The committee was told by the energy secretary that the suggestion had been submitted to the board, which had just been reconstituted. He went on to say that a board meeting was planned for September 3 and that the issue will be on the agenda.
