Since last week, enforcement department officials of the Bhandup division of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) have discovered four cases of power theft worth Rs30.88 lakh.
Bhandup is turning out to be the power theft hub of the city. Since last week, enforcement department officials of the Bhandup division of the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company (MSEDCL) have discovered four cases of power theft worth Rs30.88 lakh.
In the fourth and the latest case, Radheshyam Tiwari, a Bhandup-based shopkeeper was found to have illegally fixed a unique remote control circuit in his shop’s static meter’s transformer, on May 11. “This consumer has stolen 80,000 units, amounting to Rs6 lakh, in the past two years,” said deputy executive engineer Viththal Adhal. Similar cases were found earlier in the week in the Shiva Estate area, where one Sanjay Gurav had stolen electricity worth Rs4,68,480 using the same method.
The same officials had also raided Mahavir Wire Helds in Tank road area of Bhandup, where Anand Jaisukhbhai Doshi was stealing electricity for the past 22 months. “Doshi has used almost 2 lakh additional units and losses because of his power theft are Rs20,64,582,” said chief engineer Satish Karpe. In the fourth case, Uday Bahadur Jadhav, a consumer from Tembhi Pada was caught stealing electricity worth Rs86,486 using a similar circuit.
Power theft has been made a crime as recently as in 2003, and all the four culprits have been booked under sections 135 and 138 of the Electricity Act, 2003. “Consumers are misusing technology to steal power, and are seldom trapped. The division is now planning bigger drives,” said superintending engineer SK Shegokar.
In Panvel, the situation is as grim. In a series of raids carried out in the last few days, MSEDCL officials have found as many as 80 cases of power theft, worth Rs5.85 lakh, according to executive engineer Dilip Khanande.
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