Noida Power Company limited (NPCl), a subsidiary company of Uttar Pradesh Power Corporation limited (UPPCl), has launched a massive drive against power theft in the entire district. The department has constituted six teams of nearly two dozens officials, who, along with local police, will conduct raids and prosecute the defaulters. NPCl claimed that over 25,000 houses which are allegedly indulging in power pilferage have been identified.
After getting the go-ahead from senior officials of the State Government to crack down on electricity theft, officials of the Electricity Department formed teams to embark on raids and book the defaulters under stringent laws. Each team will have one executive engineer, two officers on special duty (OSD) and local police personnel. The officials have convened a meeting with law enforce agency to start the drive. “As the demand of electricity is increasing these days, the need of the hour is to detect those persons who are involved in power pilferage. With the move of the department, genuine consumers will get more electricity and will also help in reducing power shortage,” said Arvind Rajvedi, Superintending Engineer (SE) of PVVNl.
According to a survey conducted by NPCl, out of 1.31 lakh houses in rural belt, only 1.08 lakh houses are genuine consumers and the rest 24,000 have got illegal connection. In urban areas, out of 1.6 lakh houses, only 1.26 lakh got power connection. However, the officials are yet to ascertain the exact number of households indulging in power theft in urban areas as most of buildings in urban areas is multi-storeyed or group housing societies.
As per the estimate, electricity theft is nearly seven per cent in urban areas and 12 per cent to 15 per cent in rural areas causing a loss of more than 90 MW. The department has been facing revenue deficit of around Rs 15 crore per month. According to a senior official, the slums in the city and several villages of Greater Noida are worst affected as most of the cases of power theft comes from these regions. Sectors 4, 5, 8, 9,16,17,39, Phase-II, Khora, Bhangel, Salarpur, Barola, Sadarpur, Harola and Chhalera are the few areas where the department has found majority of defaulters. Some industrial units have also found involved in wrongdoing.