Federal Minister for Energy Awais Leghari has said that an Electricity Performance Monitoring System (EPMS) is being installed to identify and disconnect specific transformers in areas affected by electricity theft, preventing disruption to thousands of legitimate consumers.
Speaking during a visit to the expansion project at Dera Ghazi Khan Airport, Leghari said the government was using modern technology to curb power theft. He added that the new system would help authorities target transformers involved in electricity theft instead of shutting down entire feeders and affecting innocent consumers.
The minister said load-shedding would continue on all feeders with line losses of 30 per cent or more. He stressed that consumers involved in electricity theft or failing to pay their bills would not receive any relief.
Leghari said scheduled load-shedding had helped protect consumers from higher electricity bills. He added that gas shortages caused by the Iran-US conflict were increasing the cost of electricity generation.
Regarding the Dera Ghazi Khan Airport expansion, the minister said the facility was being upgraded to accommodate international flights. The project, estimated to cost Rs5.5 billion, is scheduled for completion in January 2028. He said work to make the airport international had begun on the prime minister’s directives.
Leghari added that work was also underway on four development projects announced by the prime minister for Dera Ghazi Khan. These include the airport expansion, a cancer hospital, a sewage system and road-widening projects.
He said the sewage project had been designed to meet the city’s needs over the next 50 years. Road expansion and widening, he added, would improve traffic flow and provide better transportation facilities for residents.
