Elephant in Distress

JULY 2002 - What ails WAPDA, the big white elephant of Pakistan? Every government that has come into power has ensured periodical and staggering increases in electricity rates on one pretext or another. Every government has brazenly claimed in the same breath that these increases were not a burden on the common man, a common enough species that only Islamabad cannot recognize. Still, the fortunes of the behemoth have continued to plummet. Like Humpty Dumpty, all the king’s men have failed before and will fail again to keep Humpty Dumpty from falling off the wall. This is no big deal in Pakistan, where deeper and more abiding things fall daily, things like our Constitution which no one can recognize any more.

In a civilized country and in a scenario where public accountability was in practice in reality and not a text book ideal as it is here, monsters like WAPDA would have been put to death a long time back. Over the years the huge organization – some claim it hires more people than the entire population of Pakistan, has become more and more disastrous. It long ago abandoned any attempt at standing upright and totters from one crisis to another, living off the public blood supply it constantly sucks. The people, who had no role in the monster’s creation, have simply no power – forgive the pun, to get rid of it either. Thus it lurches on, a parody of gigantic proportions, a joke played on the nation which has no choice but to grimace in pain. There is always a limit to any one’s patience and even the most oppressed and exploited will rise inevitably. It is only a question of time. Of course in Pakistan, where people have suffered for so long under authoritarian dispensations, civil and military alike, blind obedience and joy at constant exploitation are the only reactions allowed. Thus, the WAPDAs of Pakistan grind on, year after year, showering ashes on the hopes of ordinary folk who eventually think twice before switching on a 40 watt bulb.

Producing power, distributing it and recovering bills is not akin to reading the dictionary back to front at the speed of sound. While the latter seems achievable there is certainly no doubt that the former, the reason for WAPDAs birth and existence, is beyond realization. As the years progress, any fond hopes that might have been entertained at one time of turning around the big elephant, have vaporized into Pakistan’s dust-laden atmosphere. In Lahore’s WAPDA House which looks like a flying saucer that has landed at Charing Cross by mistake, the Chairman surely rides his exclusive power-lift to his luxurious offices high above The Mall, but down below, chaos reigns supreme. The latest drama of a record-setting power hike have sent another shudder down the spines of those Pakistani who are not into stealing electricity and pay bills regularly, even though the rates are killing. There is every proof that we have a pricing structure that can rank amongst the highest in the world – don’t lose too much sleep over it. Some minion from WAPDA’s huge reservoir of lying officials will tell us the opposite in a day or so.

Last week, NEPRA – for some reason it reminds me of the dead lying in vaults covered with cobwebs, announced a power rate raise of 44 paisa per unit on a plea submitted by WAPDA which wants human sacrifice to shroud its shoddy performance. Since NEPRA or DEADRA or whatever, is as much a part of the farce, and since its big bosses have probably never paid for a unit in their lives leave alone know what it costs, it had no hesitation in making a decision that cast a pall of doom across the faces of over 10 million domestic consumers. Under this draconian judgment, tariffs for domestic consumers were up by 15 %, industrial by 9 %, commercial by 1 % and agricultural tube-wells by 18 % - but not to worry; the common man is not affected (being dead already). This was the highest tariff hike since 1997 when NEPRA arrived in the world to haunt the poor and one supposes that soon it will receive accolades for this wonderful performance. Four days later, the President of Pakistan orders a stay. As usual, no institution but individuals calling the shots.

The question is, why must the buck stop at the President’s polished table? If NEPRA had made the decision on some basis, why hasn’t its top brass resigned so far? What the President has demonstrated is that the rate hike was not justified. If so, why aren’t those who enacted this ridiculous decision, made to pay for their ineptitude? I know, I know these are foolish ‘whys’. The reason WAPDA continues to be in deep – I forget the word but it is a four-letter variety, is because of its own failures. Line losses are staggeringly high – as much as 25.8 %, although it had committed to bring these down to 23.6 % (later revised conveniently to 24.6 %). In the end, it went one better and topped the 25 % mark. Another medal for the general please. Both at the transmission and distribution stage, WAPDA continued to lose power at unacceptable rates, stolen with its connivance. It is also obvious that there is little that the elephant wants to do about it. Even after it ‘adjusted’ (another word for ‘write off ‘ in the corporate world), Rs. 2.3 billion, its receivables were up to a staggering Rs. 51 billion. Of these amounts, naturally the private sector owes the most since they are the ones who form the largest consumer base, but government departments, that blot on our land, FATA, great notables and former plundering legislators, ministers, et al owe huge amounts to WAPDA which have just about as much chance of being recovered as Nawaz Sharif has of becoming COAS.

There are people who quietly argue that we should be grateful we have electricity in the cities. The situation in the far flung rural areas is serious, where electricity is more absent than present. However since the rationale here has always been to ensure that decorative fountains run, street lights on the nation’s sweeping boulevards where the rich and powerful cruise, remain on and shopping plazas and high-priced restaurants remain lit and cooled, WAPDA’s mandate has remained socially upward. It has been run by serving and non-serving generals who all had a ball, by high flying bureaucrats and others chosen to enjoy the fabulous perks the good life offers in the corporations. This year alone almost a 100 linemen have died doing their jobs without proper tools, gear or training, but understandably, no one in authority has had the humanity or decency to resign or accept blame. Walk into any street and see the tangle of wires that defy description and you wonder why half the population doesn’t get electrocuted –because there are so many power breakdowns, people can’t even get properly electrocuted. Throughout the day, here in Lahore or elsewhere, power continues its charade of appearing and disappearing at will. The slightest breeze now sets off large scale ‘tripping’. Three kites in the sky can bring down three grid stations. The blips thanks to the great ‘rorra tees’ – the proper ones are stolen by WAPDA staff and sold, cause endless surges and dips that play havoc with circuitry, ignite expensive appliances and leaves consumers no choice but to hurl expletives in the dark night. Calls to WAPDA’s many offices are not attended and on stormy nights and long power breakdowns, the staff miraculously disappears or goes into a silent mode. Life under WAPDA is rough – no wonder some call it The Water & Power Denial Authority.