Bills not paid, power to 30 Kotkapura water works cut

Tribune News Service

Faridkot, February 24

Punjab State Power Corporation Limited (PSPCL) today cut power supply to water works in 30 villages of Kotkapura division as these villages have not paid the power bill for the past many months.

Without power supply, the water works won’t be able to supply drinking water in these villages.

The PSPCL said that there would be no power supply till the arrears, amounting to over Rs1 crore, are paid.

All these water works rely on canals to supply drinking water to residents, but in the absence of power, residents will now have to rely on groundwater which has high concentration of fluoride.

Chander Mohan Mittal, SDO, Water Supply and Sanitation Department, Kotkapura sub-division, said the department has started a special campaign to collect arrears of water bills from consumers to make payment to PSPCL for the restoration of power supply.

In the Kotkapura sub-division of the Water Supply and Sanitation Department, 14 canal-based water works are under the direct control of gram panchayats and 18 water works are under the supervision of the Water Supply and Sanitation Department.

While all water works under the control of gram panchayats are defaulters of PSPCL, seven water works under the Water Supply Department also have huge dues as the department has not received money from the state government to pay the power bill for the past many months.

Inderjeet Singh, superintending engineer, PSPCL, Faridkot, said the corporation had issued a number of notices and reminders to the defaulters. As no payment was made, it was forced to cut the supply.

“Power bills totalling Rs2.25 crore are outstanding towards the water works in Faridkot district. We will cut the power supply to more water works on Monday if the bills are not paid,” he said.

The water works in Kotkapura town also have an outstanding bill of Rs45 lakh.

Officials in the Water Supply and Sanitation Department said they were always under pressure of political leaders to not make forcible collection of water bill arrears in rural and urban areas. Moreover, the supply of funds from the state government was also not enough to pay the power bills, they said.

More action likely

The department has started a special campaign to collect arrears of water bills from consumers so that PSPCL can be paid. Once that’s done, power supply will be restored. —Chander Mohan Mittal, SDO

Power bills totalling Rs 2.25 crore are outstanding towards the water works in Faridkot district. We will cut the power supply to more water works on Monday if the bills are not paid. —Inderjeet Singh, SE, lPSPCL