Mumbai: Over 1 lakh power connections suspended for not paying bills in MMR region

Photo for representational purpose

Remaining firm on its policy, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) reached the 1-lakh mark this week for temporarily disconnecting power supply for non-payment of electricity bills in the Mumbai Metropolitan Region (MMR).

MMR covers Mulund-Bhandup, Thane, Navi Mumbai, Panvel and Pen areas.

Across the state, electricity bill arrears had mounted to Rs 48,500 crore, of which Rs 242 crore was pending in MMR, an MSEDCL official said. Nearly 2 lakh consumers in MMR -- which includes residential, commercial and industry users - had not paid their monthly power bills for the past ten months, stated a report in The Times of India.

In March, deputy chief minister Ajit Pawar had said, "there will be no disconnection of electricity supply for farmers and local residents who failed to pay their bills until the issue of non-payment of outstanding bills was debated in the state assembly". However, state energy minister Nitin Raut subsequently said that recovery of arrears was important to ensure smooth running of MSEDCL.

"Raut asked officials to go ahead with temporary disconnection to recover arrears," an official said.

"We are temporarily disconnecting supply and it will be restored once the consumer pays the pending bills," said a staffer involved in the disconnection and recovery drive in Vashi.

As per the MSEDCL official, several consumers have come forward and paid arrears of Rs 30,000 to Rs 80,000 after which their connections were restored.

Some MSEDCL officials faced the risk of being attacked but have police protection now. A case in point was of officials who visited a slum in Vashi on Tuesday where residents had blocked their path.

"I warned them that I am calling the police after which they agreed to cooperate. We disconnected the meter connections and will restore supply only after there is payment," said an MSEDCL employee.

In February, when the drive was launched, around 47,000 consumers in Mumbai region paid up after receiving notices and MSEDCL was able to recover Rs 62 crore.