LAHORE Low voltage and breakdowns of power transformers are irking consumers and damaging their appliances. The problem of low voltage aggravated due to lethargic attitude of the staff concerned. People of numerous localities in the provincial metropolis frequently complained about low voltages and fluctuating power supply. This nuisance has become so widespread that now even staff of Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) has stopped processing complaints in this regard. Azam Khan, a resident of Bhatti Sub-Division, said that low voltage problem in his area has become a regular feature. The biggest problem which affected us most is non-functioning of water pump. We cannot extract water from official connection due to low voltage, he lamented. My other problems include damage to electrical appliances, he said, adding my refrigerator developed a fault due to power fluctuation while air-conditioner had not been working due to the same problem. He said he had contacted Lesco officials a number of times but to no avail. “The staff concerned said my complaint number is 151 and it will soon be addressed. Nothing happened during next 24 hours despite making successive calls and visits to the nearby office. Next day, I was told that my complaint number was now 183. One can imagine that local staff of Lesco failed to redress most of complains mainly due to their lethargic attitude,” Azam Khan said. I was told that individual complaints are not being addressed right now and team of Lesco was repairing a transformer in the area. We will process individual complaints after resolving other major issues presently hindering power supply in the area, he said. He added such a situation was indeed tantamount to complete collapse of Lesco customer care services. Rafique Dogar, a resident of Misri Shah, said staff of Badami Bagh Sub Division failed to restore smooth supply of power. He added the staff concerned even said that such problem of low voltage
would be resolved with drop in mercury level, denying any relief to consumers. He said there should be a monitoring mechanism to check the performance of Lesco officials who fail to redress peoples’ grievances. A Lesco official on the condition of anonymity told The News that there was ‘logic’ about inability of staff concerned in rectifying the low voltage problem. Acknowledging the fact, he said 30 to 40 per cent complaints nowadays were about low or fluctuating voltage in each sub-division, adding roughly two-third of them are about system overloading. “In order to correct low voltage problem, our staff addresses complaint though with a delay due to pile up of complaints. Many complaints of low voltage could not be rectified as augmentation of overloaded system was the only permanent solution to the problem. The augmentation work off-course needs money as well as time”, he explained. Meanwhile, sources said, a study conducted in 2011 under the USAID Power Distribution Improvement Programme also indicated major discrepancies and shortcoming in power distribution system of Lesco. As per study, top priority should be given to prepare a long range system plan for the distribution network that evaluates existing system voltage drop and loss performance, outage data by feeder, and performance under projected system load. This would be used to forecast the requirements for new grid substations, feeder upgrades, and eventually for transmissions.
