‘Dues unfairly imposed on us’: How a funeral exposed power woes in this colony

Bhopal: A funeral in Dwarka Dham Colony on Friday brought into sharp focus the electricity crisis that has disrupted the residential complex since the end of April.“The bereaved family had to expedite cremation arrangements while waiting for relatives to arrive from abroad. With power supply disrupted, the body could not be kept for longer,” said society RWA president DD Chaturvedi on Sunday, during a meeting of the society.The TNCP approved colony, handed over to residents around 2010, has faced repeated disconnections after the builder failed to clear ₹31 lakh in electricity dues. “After negotiations with the administration, it was decided that residents would pay ₹17 lakh, while the remainder was the builder’s responsibility. Yet discom continues to disconnect supply arbitrarily, knowing well recovery should be made from the developer,” Chaturvedi alleged.Dwarka Dham has only one HT connection with sub‑meters, under which residents pay their bills regularly. The first major disruption occurred at the end of April, when supply was cut for six hours before intervention by the local MLA restored it. Since then, outages have continued, affecting nearly 600 families, with about 500 houses occupied. Residents contribute monthly payments but say they are being penalized for the builder’s default.Chaturvedi said the residents have approached the administration and demanded legal action against the developer. “We are paying regularly. The builder’s dues should not be imposed on us,” he said. The crisis has disrupted medical support, lifts in duplex apartments, and water drawn from two tube wells.Meetings at Vallabh Bhawan have discussed have not resolved the situation. Narela MLA and minister, Vishwas Sarang chaired sessions along with representative from power discom and district administration but no resolution has followed. Residents insist the collector and minister must intervene to restore uninterrupted power. When contacted, colony builder, Vijay Singh did not respond.