KARACHI: NEPRA Chairman while conducting a public hearing on K-Electric Company Ltd’s next seven years' investment plans public hearing yesterday not only refused to reply to the public queries against the utility but also muted the online connection of the questioner.   

According to details the K-Electric Company’s representatives in their hours-long briefing stated that their net installed capacity is 2850 MW while the average distribution is 2453 MW but during peak hours it goes up to 3760 MW. This was an amazing statement that compelled Aneel Mumtaz; one of the public participants in the hearing to ask when the distribution capacity of the utility is not more than 2453 MW how and why they had issued the connections up to the 3760 MW to consumers and plundered millions of rupees from them without having the capacity to meet their demand. That’s why the K-E’s 80 percent feeders were involved in 24-hour load shedding all over the city, he said.

But instead of providing a satisfying reply from the CEO of K-Electric Company, the Chairman NEPRA Tauseef H. Farooqi flouted Aneel’s inquiry and subsequent question about the unnecessary demands in dollars for the next plan while all the required materials were easily available in the Pakistan market. The Chairman muted his connection abruptly without any reasoning.

   This unethical attitude of the NEPRA head infuriated other public participants and they commented that Aneel Mumtaz was doing a very good struggle to expose the utility and its regulator. Shoaib Khilji one of the viewers commented; “Aneel Mumtaz, you are doing it very well for a long time by fighting with these Mafias' really we appreciate the way you are fighting for the Karachi people and I would request to everyone who is living in Karachi to support you by all the means, keep it up and may Allah bless you,” Shoaib added.

Published in The Daily National Courier, March, 03 2023

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