A team of BSES Rajdhani Power limited (BRPl) was viciously attacked by a mob on Monday while inspecting power theft at Jhul Jhuli Village in South-West Delhi's Jaffarpur Kalan, a high power theft prone area. The incident led to the tragic death of one of its official while four others were seriously insured. They were accompanied by Delhi Police officials as well.
The deceased has been identified as Abhimanyu Singh.
A BSES Press release said, the teams were brutally attacked up by a mob in Jul Jhuli Village, causing them to retreat. "As they were retreating, the teams were chased by bike-borne goons. In the ensuing mêlée, one of the cars met with an accident and rammed into a tree, wherein five occupants were injured. One of them, a young engineer, succumbed to his injuries subsequently," said the release.
"Such was the attack that once again presence of Delhi Police personnel accompanying the BSES teams did not deter the mob," said a BSES official.
Despite intensive efforts to reduce power theft, Jaffarpur continues to have losses of around 60 per cent. In the last five years, around 14,000 cases of power theft having a connected load of around 33,000 KW have been unearthed in the area.
According to a BSES spokesperson said that since inception, BSES discoms have successfully brought down 'Aggregate Technical and Commercial' (AT&C) losses from more than 55 per cent in 2002 (at the time of privatisation) to the current level of around 12 per cent — a reduction around 45 per cent. "This has been possible on the back of deployment of several technological initiatives for improving the network operations and curbing power theft. The privatisation of power distribution has led to savings of over Rs 70,000 crore (and counting) for the Delhi Government," he said.
Earlier this month, BSES Rajdhani Power limited (BRPl) inspection team was attacked in Mundka (Village Ranholla) in West Delhi in which three BSES officials and one Delhi Police Sub- Inspector were injured.
"This is not an isolated incident. Efforts of discom teams to check the irregularities are often thwarted by the law-defying people who function like organised gangs. Whenever teams reach these 'sensitive' areas, unscrupulous elements 'gherao' them and obstruct officials in imparting their duties," the official said.
"This attack was undertaken by people who are indulged in power theft in an organised way. Power theft has taken shape of organised crime and active police support is needed to curb this menace," he added.
Officials said cases of power theft shoot up substantially during the summer months, which leads to severe over-loading of the distribution system (transformers/feeders) at places, resulting in tripping. It is also a potential safety hazard.
BRPl & BYPl are premier power distribution companies and Joint Ventures between Reliance Infrastructure limited and Government of NCT Delhi.