Power defaulters continue to enjoy ‘achhe din’

Parvesh Sharma

Tribune News Service

Jind, October 29

One year after forming the government in Haryana and announcements to put in place the best mechanism to recover whopping power dues from consumers, nothing has changed on ground.

The latest report submitted to CM office by the power department shows that the outstanding dues were Rs 5,308.84 crore from private consumers while various departments also owed Rs 603 crore to the power utilities.

The major defaulters were in Khapland with Jind topping the list with Rs 1077.98 crore in dues. Hisar came second with Rs 739.32 crore, Bhiwani third at with Rs 638.51 crore followed by Rohtak with Rs 476.20 crore, Faridabad Rs 384.74 crore and Kaithal Rs 320.59 crore.

Sources said that during a recent state- level meeting of senior officials, CM Khattar, who has been repeatedly asking power defaulters at his rallies to clear their dues, directed the latter to accelerate the recovery process. All DCs and SPs have been directed to extend all possible help to the power department officials.

“Though urban residents have started paying, but we are facing huge problems in recovering pending bills from the countryside since villagers are unwilling to pay even after our repeated visits and special schemes,” said a senior officer of the department.

Details show that that there are 1,39,582 defaulters in Jind who owe total Rs 1077 crore to the power department. Out of this, 50,975 connections have been disconnected since the defaulters owed Rs 260 crore while the remaining 88607 consumers owe Rs 811 crore. But out of total defaulters, around 80 per cent are live in the rural arweas while remaining 20 per cent are city dwellers.

No senior official from the Uttar Haryaan Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN), the power department or the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN) could be contacted despite repeated attempts.