The tussle between the Tata Delhi Distribution Company limited (TPDDl) and North Delhi Municipal Corporation (NMC) over financial dues may have serious repercussion in the Capital. The discom on Tuesday snapped power supply to nearly 45,000 streetlights over unpaid dues.
The civic body said that TPDDl should first clear its property tax dues of nearly Rs 19 crore before it releases money owed in electricity charges.
A large number of streets in localities falling under NMC in North and North-West Delhi will remain dark at night for another couple of days till the matter is not resolved. This poses a serious threat to safety and security of the public, especially women.
Chairman of the Standing Committee of North Corporation Yogender Chandolia said that they would also initiate punitive action against the power discom for non-payment of property tax. Chandolia said, "The Property Tax department will attach the bank accounts of TPDDl and seal some of their properties if they don't clear our dues. The power discom owes around Rs 19 crore as property tax to the North Corporation". He added that if the company disrupted public utility services, the civic body would certainly attach their accounts if the property tax dues were not cleared.
However, a spokesperson of the company said the disconnection of power supply came after a proper procedure. The civic body refused to budge, the company said, as it justified its action. "On account of outstanding payments to the tune of Rs 60.29 crore from MCD on account of energy charges, maintenance charges and cost of material etc till date, close to 45,000 MCD streetlights in TPDDl's distribution network of North and North West Delhi have been disconnected," the spokesperson of TPDDl said.
It was also added that TPDDl had first on November 2, 2011 served a disconnection notice to Municipal Corporation of Delhi (MCD) and had also written to the Commissioner, MCD on several occasions since 2011 but to no avail. On Monday, the company stopped power supply to several streetlights at six locations.
Meanwhile, North Corporation Commissioner PK Gupta held an emergency meeting on Tuesday with the officials of the power company to resolve the issue. However, the dispute remained unresolved.
"In the absence of any commitment from MCD to pay the pending amount, TPDDl is left with no option but to disconnect the supply indefinitely," the TPDDl spokesperson said. Meanwhile, the corporation has also decided to charge rent from the power discom for using the corporation land for installation of its transformers and sub-stations.
Chandolia also said the power discom should install meters for all the streetlights of the corporation first. "Till now, the bill is generated on an average basis. Presently, it is difficult to assess whether all the lights are functional or not. Therefore, the corporation has now asked the power discom to install meters for billing as per the consumption," he said.