KARACHI: K-Electric (KE) has launched a Rs10 billion investment initiative in power distribution infrastructure titled ‘Project Sarbulandi’ for those parts of the metropolis that suffer from the menace of power theft, the utility said in a statement.
“With the vision of eradicating power-theft and the resultant segmented load-shed in Karachi, the Sarbulandi initiative aims to strengthen network health and theft resistance by installation of insulated Aerial Bundled Cables (ABC),” it said in its handout.
“This will result in the provision of safe and reliable electricity for the most economically vulnerable communities of Karachi and move the city closer to a load-shed free reality.” Under the umbrella of Sarbulandi, the KE would positively engage with and benefit over ten million people through community uplift initiatives such as provision of clean drinking water, clean up drives, hosting of health camps and rehabilitation of basic infrastructure, the utility said.
“These efforts will be supplemented by bill payment support in the form of rebates and installments to facilitate customers in their transition to regular bill payments,” the KE statement added.
The power company further said as part of its commitment to the economic empowerment of the communities that it operates in, K-Electric had committed to hire for over 800 different positions from areas where this initiative was underway.
In the first phase of this project, six high loss areas were brought under the ambit of Sarbulandi including Korangi, Landhi, Orangi, Surjani, Nazimabad and Liaquatabad resulting in reduced load-shed duration for these areas by up to 4.6 hours on average.
Over 1,000 Pole Mounted Transformers had been converted to ABC, while low-cost meters have been provided to over 100,000 customers alongside a PKR 2 billion in billing relief to these consumers.
Including the 8,000 people who had received free medical treatments at healthcare camps organised by the KE, over five million inhabitants have been benefitted through this initiative thus far.
