LAHORE: The power supply to four major housing projects in Bahria Town Lahore was cut on Thursday over non-payment of electricity dues exceeding Rs682 million, triggering strong protests and prompting residents to announce a demonstration after Friday prayers.
Confirming the development, Lahore Electric Supply Company (Lesco) CEO Muhammad Ramzan Butt said Bahria Town’s management had repeatedly failed to clear long-pending arrears despite multiple extensions.
“They have failed to pay a total of Rs682 million on four bulk power supply connections,” . “We will not restore the power supply till the bills have been paid.”
According to Lesco officials, Bahria Town was initially given a deadline of November 21, which was pushed to November 23 at the developer’s request. The management continued to seek extensions until November 26. The final deadline was set for November 27, but no payment was made.
Instead, Bahria Town allegedly approached a court for relief — but before any order could be issued, Lesco proceeded with disconnections. “We disconnected the power supply to four projects,” Butt said, reiterating that restoration would occur immediately once the dues were cleared.
Documents show that Bahria Town (M/S Bahria Town Pvt Ltd) owes over Rs530 million, Bahria Orchard owes Rs137 million, Bahria Education City owes Rs5.465 million, and another Bahria-linked project operated by M/S Kingrete Associates owes Rs2.70 million.
Residents, however, expressed deep frustration toward both Bahria Town’s management and Lesco, citing a lack of communication and the sudden nature of the outage. Many said they had been without power since Thursday evening.
“Since yesterday evening up until now, we are functioning without electricity,” said Fayyaz Ahmad, a Bahria Town resident. “The food in the refrigerator has also gone bad. It seems as if we are living in a jungle — no electricity and no warm water.”
He added that he planned to temporarily relocate to a relative’s home until power was restored.
This is not the first time Bahria Town has faced such action: in 2024, Lesco disconnected power to the developer over unpaid dues exceeding Rs762 million. Bahria Town has also previously faced criticism for overbilling and deductions on electricity generated through solar power at its Islamabad projects.
Residents say they will continue pressuring the administration until normalcy returns.
