Young people play cricket on a Ramazan night using stolen electricity, without worrying about the ethical or religious implications. Photo: Express
HYDERABAD:
Power theft for hosting night cricket matches on main roads and busy intersections of Hyderabad reached its peak during Ramazan, while the Hyderabad Electric Supply Company (HESCO) failed to curb the illegal practice.
On the one hand, HESCO failed to reduce the duration of load shedding during the holy month, with scheduled and unscheduled power outages continuing throughout the day, in addition to power suspensions under the pretext of outages. On the other hand, the company appears ineffective in preventing open electricity theft in the city.
Across Hyderabad, including Latifabad and Qasimabad, night cricket matches are being played all the way to Sehri under high-voltage floodlights illegally connected to the main electricity poles. Residents, civic groups and the media report such power thefts every year during Ramazan.
Although HESCO occasionally conducts token operations – confiscating cables and projectors in a few places – the practice soon resumes.
Residents fear that the burden of this electricity theft will ultimately fall on law-abiding consumers and that they will receive inflated bills with additional charges in the form of line losses. According to consumers, sub-divisional officials often issue detection bills to selected users who are not part of any “arrangement”, forcing them to repeatedly visit HESCO offices for corrections, despite their modest electricity consumption.
Although some departures have been declared “load-shedding”, reports indicate that even these departures are experiencing power outages, particularly in the morning.
Apart from power theft, night cricket matches also disrupt traffic on main roads and at intersections. Residents complain of large gatherings of young people and spectators, accompanied by cheers and loud comments that continue late into the night, causing unrest in neighborhoods.
Citizens criticized HESCO and district authorities for failing to take effective measures. While HESCO frequently issues press releases about ongoing operations against power thieves – sometimes in collaboration with Rangers and the FIA - no significant action has been taken against the dozens of openly organized night cricket events fueled by illegal connections.
Meanwhile, some young players say not all matches depend on electricity theft, although they admit such incidents can happen in some places. They argue that Ramazan naturally sees increased nighttime activity, as many people stay up late and sleep after Sehri and Fajr prayers.
The youth further contend that lack of proper sports grounds in Hyderabad, Latifabad and Qasimabad forces them to play on the streets and main roads. They say existing land is unusable or lacks adequate facilities. They added that no ground in the city is currently equipped for night cricket. They said if the district administration or the municipality installed floodlights on the designated grounds during Ramazan, the problem could be resolved.
