Pakistan has cut off the electricity supply to several major official buildings for non-payment of bills.
Under the move, the electricity supply has been cut off of parliament, the prime minister’s offices and the president’s official residence.
According to Gulf News, the ‘indiscriminate drive’ was taken by Minister for water and power Abid Sher Ali to recover unpaid bills and warned that all offices and customers who had defaulted would be cut off.
The Capital Development Authority, Islamabad’s civic agency which is responsible for paying government offices’ bills, owes the Islamabad Electricity Supply Company (Iesco) Rs2.36 billion, the report said.
The President’s Secretariat, which is the head of state’s office and residence, owes 28 million rupees, while lawmakers’ residential block, Parliament Lodges, had to pay 20 million rupees to IESCO, he added.
According to the report, the disconnections were not limited to electricity, but the state-run gas company also disconnected the natural gas supply to the prime minister’s offices.
The drive was opposed by the ruling parties in southern Sindh province that protested against the unannounced electricity cuts and warned Islamabad against a series of sit-ins if the power cuts were to continue, the report added. (ANI)