In furtherance of its commitment to eliminate power theft, K-Electric conducted as many as 762 anti-power theft drives across the city in the first two weeks of August and removed 5,384 illegal kunda connections from its service areas. These kunda-removal drives that took place in different parts of the city, including Surjani, New Karachi, Gulistan-e-Johar, Orangi, Liaquatabad, Nazimabad, Bin Qasim, and Malir, among others, unhooked illegal wires weighing over 5,700 kilograms that were illegally connected to KE’s infrastructure and were being used to steal electricity worth millions.
Director Communications and KE’s Spokesperson Imran Rana commented on the matter, “K-Electric strongly condemns these miscreants who use illegal connections to energize their premises. Not only they are putting the lives and properties of the masses at peril but also trying to steal the right of our valuable consumers who access the electricity the legal way and pay for it. We continue to conduct these anti-kunda drives every day and remove thousands of illegal connections but unfortunately these are restored within a few hours of removal. However, we would like to assure that we would stop at nothing to crackdown against these culprits. It is to make it loud and clear that K-Electric is dealing such lawbreakers with an iron hand, and any act of stealing electricity can lead to the penalty of PKR 10 million and imprisonment up to 03 years.”
The spokesperson further stated, “Power infrastructure carries dangerously high voltage electricity and is installed by trained personnel in compliance with rigorous safety parameters. Any tampering with the network by an unauthorized person can lead up to serious consequences, including fatalities. Kundas also weigh down and damage electrical utility wires, which make them prone to short-circuiting, fire-eruption, and faults in power supply system that cause inconvenience to the consumers.”
“Keeping in view the hazard and damage these illegal connections may cause, citizens are requested to support the utility in actions against them and report power theft.”, the spokesperson added. Citizens in KE service territory can report power theft by emailing at speakup@ke.com.pk. The anonymity of the informers will be ensured.
