Deaths caused by electrocution: Sindh govt to register cases: Imtiaz

KARACHI: Sindh Government will register Murder cases against the top brass of concerned power supply companies across the province, including K-Electric, for the loss of human lives due to electrocutions.

Sindh energy department minister Imtiaz Ahmad Shaikh told reporters at a press conference Wednesday that a number of people including women and children died due to electrocution during the recent monsoon rain spells in the province including Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Ghotki and Dadu etc.

In the light of the Supreme Court's orders, Imtiaz said the provincial government has decided to file FIRs against the owners/ heads and concerned officials of the power utilities including KE, Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO), Sukkur Electric Power Company (SEPCO) etc operating within the jurisdictions of Sindh province for their 'criminal negligence'.

"The law department is being consulted in this regard." Shaikh said.

The bereaved families themselves cannot lodge FIR against the concerned companies as they are generally pressurized and blackmailed by these power giants and the influential local landlords. We will file FIRs on behalf of the state, if the victims' families remain failed to do so," Imtiaz said.

"The provincial government is collecting the data of causalities, and also extending all out support to the bereaved families regarding the registration of cases. Whoever wants to lodge FIRs, Sindh government is there to assist them," the minister said.

To a query, he said as many as 20 electrocution deaths were reported from Karachi, two from Sultankot and Ghotki. A woman and her daughter were electrocuted in district Dadu, this month.

In July, the Chief Justice of Pakistan (CJP) Justice Gulzar Ahmed ordered authorities to register murder cases against relevant KE officials for the deaths that had taken place in Karachi due to electrocution during the recent rains.

Imtiaz said Karachi, Hyderabad, Sukkur, Shikarpur, Nawabshah and other cities of Sindh are experiencing prolonged load-shedding. He said that 8 to 12-hour load shedding has become common in Karachi. K-Electric, Hesco and SEPCO are not fulfilling their responsibilities. Electricity and gas problems are not being solved in Sindh, he added.

Power-hit consumers are also receiving inflated electricity bills.

He said Sindh despite being the largest gas producing province in the country is being supplied less than one thousand MMCFD of gas while the other provinces are being supplied more than 1600 MMCFD of gas.

The Federal Minister for Energy does not listen to us. Whenever he comes to Sindh, he sits in the Governor's House from where he goes back to Islamabad, Imtiaz said.

Chairman NEPRA along with his team is visiting Karachi on August 26 (next Wednesday). He will talk to the provincial government on power related issues. However, NEPRA is just a regulator, the solution to the real problems of Sindh lies with the Federal Ministry of Energy and Power Division. They should pay heed to our grievances," Imtiaz said.

Imtiaz praised the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) for clearing the storm drains in Karachi.

Copyright Business Recorder, 2020