In Etawah, one in every five electricity consumers pays bills

LUCKNOW: Out of every five electricity consumers in Etawah, the home district of SP patriarch Mulayam Singh Yadav, only one pays the electricity bill. The situation is almost similar in Kannauj, parliamentary constituency of SP president Akhilesh Yadav’s wife, Dimple. Parliamentary constituency and home district of UP chief minister Yogi Aditya Nath, Gorakhpur too reports high rate of power theft. In fact, in Kauriram division of Gorakhpur, power pilferage is to the tune of over 80%.
The startling finding is part of an internal assessment report on Aggregate Technical and Commercial (AT&C) losses prepared by the UP Power Corporation Limited (UPPCL).The report has been prepared till December 2016, a month before notification for UP assembly elections came into effect.
The report, that comes at a time UP government gears up to implement the Center’s flagship ‘24x7 power for all’ scheme, highlights categorically that of the total power supplied, almost 31% got pilfered till December last year. This was over double the 15% mandated by the Central Electricity Authority (CEA). The report shows that UPPCL supplied over 68,000 million units of power between December 2015 and December 2016 but got paid for only around 52,000 MU. Almost 16,000 MUs, accounting for over Rs 6,500 crore (calculated at the rate of Rs 4.41 per unit) were lost in power pilferage and transmission losses within a year.
According to the report (TOI has a copy of it), highest power theft rate of around 44% was recorded in the Dakshinanchal distribution company which supplied power to districts like Agra, Mathura, Mainpuri, Etawah and Kannauj. This meant almost every second consumer did not pay for electricity consumed. While Agra recorded around 35% AT&C losses, the figure hovered in the range of around 36% in Mathura from where energy minister and BJP leader Srikant Sharma got elected as an MLA.
The best performer is Noida, where AT&C losses are to the tune of less than 7%. Similarly, Ghaziabad recorded less than 10% electricity loss. The state capital, however, reported AT&C loss of around 25%. “Power pilferage is a big challenge for the state government’s commitment to provide uninterrupted power supply,” said a senior UPPCL official, requesting not to be named.
Power experts said 24x7 power for all will not materialise until power theft goes unchecked. Chairman of All India Power Engineers Federation (AIPEF) Shailendra Dubey said it is high time power theft is equated with theft from state treasury. “It will need strong political will to check pilferage of electricity,” he said.
Sources said UPPCL was planning to carry out an exhaustive anti-theft drive in various districts of UP. A senior UPPCL official, however, said the corporation had been carrying out an anti-power theft drive in the past. “It is an ongoing process and needs to be carried out on time to time,’’ said an official.