Discom disconnects power to Bhainsa, Sircilla over bills

Adilabad/Karimnagar, Hyderabad: The Northern Distribution Power Company of Telangana cut off power supply for the streetlights of Bhainsa town on Saturday causing inconvenience to motorists and other road users.

 

Discom officials also cut off power supply to the Sircilla municipal office but spared streetlights. The power bill for the streetlights in the town and Bhainsa local body had accumulated to over Rs 7 crore and that of Sircilla is Rs 1.1 crore.

 

Transco Adilabad Vigilance AE Srinivas said municipality officials failed to clear arrears even after repeated appeals and issuing notices to the council. The huge delay in clearing dues forced officials to cut off power supply to the town’s street lights. 

 

Vigilance officials CI Ramesh and SI Kistaiah were present. Transco officials had done this in the past too for not clearing arrears and had restored supply after the intervention of the MLA. 

 

In Sircilla municipality, employees were forced to work in the dark on Saturday. However, the power supply was restored by evening after officials of the civic body promised to pay Rs 50 lakh of the Rs 1.1 crore bill. 

 

Sircilla municipal council commissioner A. Suman Rao said that electricity was cut off to the civic body’s office from 11 am to 3 pm due to delay in clearing arrears. 

 

“We did not pay power bills on time as the accounts of our office were frozen due to the digitalisation taken up by the government,” he said.

 

“The electricity department did not inform in advance about their move. I would have averted this had they told us in advance,” the commissioner said.

 

Northern Power Distribution Company of Telangana Limited’s director (operations) B. Narsing Rao said, “The decision to cut off power was taken as they failed to pay bills despite reminders. Even collectors intervened and asked municipal bodies to pay the bill but it was not paid.”