Rent unpaid, Himachal electricity board office to be shifted from Kasauli

The Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Ltd (HPSEBL) has been forced to shift its office in Kasauli to a nearby village as it has failed to pay rent to the tune of crores to the defence authorities.

The defence authorities had leased leased out an office premises to the power board in Kasauli. Its 30-year lease period expired on March 31, 2020.

“After the expiry of the lease period, we requested the defence authorities to provide us demand notice in 2020, but they did grant us the same. After a three-year gap we received three revised demand notices amounting to crores from the Defence Estate Officer, Ambala,” said Vikas Gupta, Executive Engineer, HPSEBL, Parwanoo.

As per the first demand notice issued in September 2023, the board was supposed to pay Rs 1,60,94,041 as outstanding rent since April 2020. The amount was revised in March 2024 to Rs 1,01,90,934, including arrears and annual rent. Yet another notice served in March 2024 showed the outstanding amount of Rs 2,03,81,869.

“These notices have been forwarded to senior officials. Though our Assistant Engineer visited the Defence Estate Office seeking relaxation in rent, but to no avail,” added Gupta.

“As the high lease amount will burden HPSEBL consumers, it has been planned to shift the Junior Engineer office to nearby village Deori, 4 kms from Kasauli,” said the official.

With a severe space crunch in the Kasauli Cantonment, the only suitable office space the board officials could find is in a nearby village. Residents of Kasauli and surrounding areas will now have to travel a few extra kms to avail of services from the board.

An official of the Kasauli Cantonment Board said the power board will have to deposit the dues even if they plan to vacate the premises. He added that the rent is calculated on the basis of a standard table of rent, which was revised in 2018. The lease amount is worked out as per the table and is calculated on the basis of the average land sale executed in the area in the last three years. While the residents have been raising the issue of high rent in the Kasauli area, which has increased the value of their leased property manifold, a little could be done to address the issue.