Power Department intensifies crackdown against defaulters, thieves

1,082 consumers disconnected for non-payment of bills

MASROOR AHMAD

SRINAGAR: Failing to provide adequate electricity supply to its consumers, the Kashmir Power Distribution Corporation Limited (KPDCL) launched a massive crackdown against power theft by carrying out night patrolling on Wednesday, and disconnecting lines of nearly 600 commercial and industrial units.
On Thursday, KPDCL has further intensified its inspection drives across all district of Kashmir Division to check incidents of hooking and power theft, which are primarily responsible for power outages and distress cuts.
As many as 566 drives were conducted across all 19 Electric Divisions and a penalty of Rs.7.84 lakh was imposed on those found hooking wires on bare conductor and bypassing the meters. Meanwhile, 64 Domestic Transformers (DTs) were also reported damaged on Wednesday due to overloading.
Giving details about the inspections conducted, a KPDCL spokesperson today stated that 183 drives were conducted in Circle II Srinagar, 60 in Circle I Srinagar, 123 in Circle Ganderbal, 71 in Circle Pulwama, 35 in Circle Bijbehara and 94 in Circle Sopore. The spokesperson further stated that 1082 domestic, commercial and industrial connections were also disconnected for non-payment of energy dues for more than three months. This includes 371 domestic, 549 commercial and 157 industrial consumers.
Exhorting consumers to treat DTs as their own assets, the KPDCL spokesman said 64 DTs were reported damaged across all Electric Divisions. “While those fully damaged are being transported to Central Workshop at Pampore, the rest are being repaired at divisional-level workshops,” he said, adding that KPDCL is committed to replace the damaged transformers within the stipulated timelines.
KPDCL has also urged all domestic, commercial and industrial consumers to pay their long-pending energy dues or face disconnection. “The Corporation is actively pursuing recovery of pending arrears and Rs.8.00 crore were collected on Wednesday alone from the consumers,” he said, adding that KPDCL will make all out efforts to achieve the target of revenue realization fixed by the Government.
Meanwhile several political parties including Indian National Congress staged protest today in Srinagar against electricity crises in Kashmir. Leaders were holding placards and posters demanding an end to power cuts. The protest is to wake the administration from the deep slumber as Kashmir has plunged into darkness due to the worsening power crises. The leaders further said that the local residents are suffering endlessly and the administration has failed to provide basic necessities and unfortunately hospitals in many areas are deprived of electricity supply.