Daily Times

Aerial Bundle Cable (ABC) project has been approved by the Government initially for three districts of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa to prevent line losses and illegal electricity connections.

In first phase, ABC were approved for high line loss feeders of Peshawar, Bannu and Khyber districts, Chief Executive Officer, PESCO, Jabbar Khan said during a presentation to Engr Amir Muqam, Adviser to the Prime Minister for Political Communication and Public Affairs here at PESCO headquarters which was also attended by senior officials of the company.

The PESCO said ABC on 25 high loss feeders would be achieved this year while 29 ABC would be completed by next year in Bannu. Engr Amir Muqam said it was an important project that would help curb menace of Kunda and illegal connections.

He directed PESCO authorities to expedite work on GolenGol hydropower project in Chitral so that people of the remote northern district would be largely benefited.

Muqam also directed immediate repair of transformer of Peshawar High Court Bar Association. He was informed that work on Special Economic Zone Rashakai grid station was underway that would provide uninterrupted power supply to consumers and industrial units by bolstering economic growth.

The PM adviser directed PESCO authorities to submit a detail report about line losses in Bannu’s hard areas and workable recommendations to be taken up with its elected lawmakers to curb power stealing.

CEO Jabbar Khan said there was 100 percent recovery in soft areas, 98 percent in semi hard areas and 59 percent in hard areas in KP. He said line losses at Bannu, Shabqadar and Hari Chand Charsadda, Badabar in Peshawar are high due to illegal connections.

He said PESCO needs assistance of police and law enforcement agencies for collection of E-bills and controlling of electricity theft in hard areas. Jabbar underscored the need for legislation to control theft of electricity.

He said number of consumers in 2002 were 1.8 million that jumped to 3.98 million in 2022 while electricity demand was mounted from 1,800MW to 3,307MW during the said periods respectively.

Engr Amir Muqam directed PESCO authorities to give significant relief to people in load shedding from May 1.

He directed for improved coordination, improved service delivery and rising above personal interest to increase recovery, reduce line losses and provide better power supply to consumers during summer.