Government has given the green light to up to eight hours of load-shedding.
The state government has decided to make people defaulting on their electricity dues sweat this summer.
At a closed-door meeting held at Mantralaya, the ministry of power has given its consent to enforce load shedding for at least four to eight hours in order to teach a lesson to these defaulters, and ensure they don’t take the administration for granted.
However, the load shedding will only be imposed in regions that have failed to clear above 36% of their dues.
A senior cabinet minister said, “The decision will also be extended to commercial sectors that have failed to clear massive electricity dues across Maharashtra.”
According to government findings the areas notorious for non-payment of dues are concentrated in Marathwada and the north Maharashtra region. Senior officials in the power ministry said, “The state is confident of meeting the challenges in the power sector in the month of May and June, the peak of summer.”
1,350 MW of power is adequate to provide uninterrupted electricity supply to the state. However, the decision to impose load shedding has been taken to discriminate between defaulters and non-defaulters.
The minister revealed, “There are at least several hundred villages across Maharashtra where gram panchayats have not cleared the dues for almost one year. There are villages with outstanding payments for last three years.”
The load shedding will be commensurate with the percentage of non-payment. The minister said, “The areas where the payment is due below 36% will be spared of load shedding. But those with outstanding payments between 36% and 50% will have to face up to four hours of load shedding. Those who have not paid beyond 50% and 80% will have to suffer load shedding of up to eight hours.”
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