The crackdown on electricity theft is becoming more aggressive across the country, with close to 500 people detained and more than Rs950 million recovered from power thieves.
Rashid Langrial, Secretary of the Power Division, said on Thursday on the social media platform X, formerly known as Twitter, “Will cross first billion recovery mark today, although all nuts and bolts of the anti-theft campaign are still not fully in place.”
According to the information provided by Langrial, the total amount recovered increased from Rs14 million on September 7 to Rs951 million on September 14. Around 490 people have been detained overall.
PM’s campaign against Power Theft
Will cross first billion recovery mark today, although all nuts and bolts of anti-theft campaign are still not fully in place.
An iterative process: learning by doing in place. Fully-evolved model by end of the month Insha Allah. pic.twitter.com/SqJOGzBuEv
— Rashid Langrial (@Rashidlangrial) September 14, 2023
The Senate Standing Committee on Power, on the other hand, applauded the Power Division for taking swift action against line losses and electricity theft in various DISCOs.
Also read: Electricity theft: Former Punjab MPAs caught stealing electricity
Arshad Majid, Additional Secretary for Power Division, stated that approximately Rs1 billion had been recovered in the last few days and that the Power Division had reshuffled the officers of various DISCOs to increase efficiency.
According to Saifullah Abro, the Power Division also reshuffled CEOs of DISCOs and Boards of Directors who were allegedly involved in malpractices.
Multan Electric Power Supply Company (Mepco) employees arrested two former provincial MPs of the Punjab Assembly in the act of stealing electricity.
A crew from the electric supply company allegedly conducted a raid on a farm property owned by former MPA Mumtaz Ali Khan in a Sadiqabad neighbourhood and found that more than a dozen air conditioners were being powered by main power lines.
The previous MPA from Muzaffargarh, Mian Alamdar Qureshi, was also caught stealing electricity in a separate incident.
As former Punjab MPAs have been caught stealing electricity, what actions have been taken against them are yet unknown.
