Imphal, Feb 14 : Intensifying its drive against unauthorized power consumers, the Manipur electricity department has extended the crackdown on defaulters in the remote Moreh town bordering Myanmar as well as on some government departments in the capital.
Invoking provisions of the Electricity Act, 2003, the department officials, along with armed police personnel, had launched its drive on January 24. The move came barely five days after the Gauhati High Court's Imphal bench issued notices to government authorities, seeking replies from them on the erratic power supply in the state within a month.
The court's order followed a Public Interest Litigation filed by three citizens contending that the bonafide power consumers in the state were getting power only for about 3 to 4 hours a day, while the neighbouring states enjoyed round-the-clock electric supply.
Besides disconnecting hundreds of connections of defaulters and unauthorized consumers, the department has collected a huge amount of power tariff. In accordance with provisions of the statute, many offenders have been arrested and sent to jail.
On Saturday, the department's team, led by an executive engineer, collected over Rs one lakh from the defaulting consumers staying in Moreh. During the crackdown, police even arrested some defaulters and unauthorized users.
0 comments:
Post a Comment