Saving Electricity Bill

 Written by: Samira Haleemzai

According to the information provided by Da Afghanistan Breshna Sherkat (DABS), Afghanistan generates around 300 megawatts of electricity. More electricity is imported from Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Iran and Turkmenistan but the problem of lack of electricity is not solved yet and most rural areas have no electricity. The shortage of electricity is more sensed in winter. One of the reasons for this issue is not saving electricity. 

AEPO’s writer/producer has talked to some people about this issue.

Imran, a resident of Jalalabad city, Nangarhar province says, “Once due to more usage of power, our electricity line burned. The electrician repaired it. The first bill after repairing was 48 thousand Afghanis and the second bill was 148 thousand Afghanis and we were not able to pay the bill and they disconnected our electricity and now we are facing many problems.”

Ruqia Barakzai, a resident of Kabul city says, “Some days ago our neighbor’s house burned down due to electric fire. This issue caused to disconnect the electricity of some other houses too.”

What are the causes of this issue?

Waliullah, a resident of Laghman province says, “We had to pay a high bill because we were using multiple appliances like washing machine, water heater, and iron at the same time and as we were not able to pay the bill, the DABS authorities disconnected our home’s electric line and we are facing many problems.”

Engineer Arian, an employee of DABS talks about the causes of this issue, “If we do not pay attention to the usage of electricity at homes and use more power than need, the pressure on power cables increases and they might cause the electrical fault. If anyone does not pay the bill, after passing about six months after reading the meter, the DABS authorities would disconnect his/her service. And he/she has to wait for a time and pay more to reconnect his/her electric connection.”