KARACHI
Eighty percent energy savers of Prime Minister Programme of energy saving available in the open market on extremely low price causing a loss of around Rs100 million to the federal exchequer.
According to the details, Federal government had handed over 2.7 million energy savers to K-Electric for distribution among people and promote the use of savers for conserving electricity.
Federal Ministry for Water and Power has given 2.7million energy savers out of 30 million to K-Electric for distribution among its domestic consumers free of cost. According to the rule of federal government, the K-Electric will attach a receipt along with the electricity monthly bill and consumers will get an energy saver against the two 100 volts bulbs.
Following the scheme K-Electric has organised a lunching ceremony of this Energy Efficient Programmed held at KESC offices on December 24, 2013.
Except launching ceremony, K-E had nothing to do with the campaign and the campaign was ended before it started. Survey conducted by The Nation revealed that no one in the city could get such savers yet.
A Resident of MPR Colony Momin Khan said that an employee of K-Electric has approached him at his house and got a receipt filed for delivery of savers. The employee of K-Electric took local bulbs and assured the delivery within 24 hours but the employee yet to be returned even the year has passed.
Sources said that K-Electric has total 28 IBCs (Consumer offices) across the city while severs were hardly reached at five to six IBCs initially since the first attempt of distribution, K-Electric suspended the campaign thus the marketing of savers started. An employee wished to be anonymous revealed that one box of savers contains 48 savers and it has been sale in the market at Rs 3100 which is not even equal to buying cost of the government. Sources said that the same saver available in the market on Rs 130 while the wholesale price of K-Electric distributors is less than Rs.60 of each saver.
K-Electric spokesperson Adil Murtaza when contacted declined any such sale of savers. He said that distribution of the savers had been done across the country and it would be easy to sale the savers in Karachi or Punjab. He said K-Electric had completed the drive successfully and distributed all the savers among the Karachiites. He said company would take stern action against the employees found involved in such practice after matching of same serial numbers provided to K-Electric by federal government.
It is worth mentioning here that K-Electric had claimed that at the end of the project the company would be saving 107 megawatts (MW) across Karachi that would also be offsetting the supply and demand gap and reduction in the carbon footprints on sustainable basis to protect the environment.
Under the programme launched as part of the Prime Minister’s Nationwide Energy Saving initiative, KESC would provide two Compact Florescent Lamps, generally called energy saver of 23 watts to each domestic consumer, who would be required to hand over two used working Incandescent Lamps (ICLs) commonly called yellow bulbs of 40, 60 or 100 watts along with the complete requirement mentioned in the CFL receiving voucher printed in the monthly electricity bills.