Power supply to four housing projects in Bahria Town Lahore has been cut due to non-payment of dues worth over Rs 682 million, it was learned on Friday.
The move has sparked protest from residents, who have planned a demonstration in front of Bahria Town offices after Friday prayers.
Muhammad Ramzan Butt, CEO of Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco), said Bahria Town had defaulted on its payments.
“They have not paid a total of Rs 682 crore for four connections for bulk power supply,” he said. Sunrise.
“We will not restore power until the bills have been paid,” he said.
According to him, the initial deadline to pay the bills was November 21, but it was later extended to November 23 at the request of Bahria Town officials. However, they continued to request extensions until November 26 (Wednesday), he said.
The Lesco official said the latest deadline was November 27. “Instead of paying the bills, they have allegedly approached the courts,” he said.
“However, before the court could intervene, we disconnected power supply to four projects,” Butt said.
According to the invoices, copies of which are available with Sunrise — Bahria Town (M/S Bahria Town PVT LTD) has to pay more than Rs 530 million, followed by Bahria Orchard, which has to pay Rs 137 million to the power company.
Meanwhile, Bahria Education City has to pay Rs 5.465 million while another Bahria City project by M/S Kingrete Associates has to pay Rs 2.70 million.
“As soon as the invoices are settled, our teams will immediately restore the supply,” promised Lesco’s CEO.
On the other hand, residents criticized the Bahria municipal administration and Lesco for not taking steps to restore power supply.
“From last night until now we are running on electricity,” said Fayyaz Ahmad, a resident of Bahria Town. Sunrise.
“The food in the refrigerator has also gone bad,” he said.
“It seems like we live in a jungle, without electricity or hot water to bathe,” he said, adding that he had decided to temporarily move to his brother’s house in light of the current situation.
In 2024, Lesco had disconnected power supply to Bahria Town over non-payment of over Rs 762 million in electricity bills.
The real estate company has also previously come under scrutiny for power issues. In June last year, dozens of residents of Bahria Town operations in Islamabad petitioned against over-billing and deductions by the administration for solar-generated electricity.
