Supply snapped, defaulters in Jabalpur get power, the illegal way

Jabalpur: Power theft cases have come to the fore in Jabalpur, where consumers continued to illegally use electricity even after their connections were disconnected due to non-payment of dues.Acting against defaulters, the electricity department registered cases against 33 consumers, including 15 major defaulters, during a late-night inspection drive on Thursday. Despite being given multiple opportunities, including benefits under the Samadhan scheme and the option to clear dues in six instalments, several consumers failed to make payments, following which their electricity connections were cut. However, inspections revealed that many continued to draw power illegally.According to city circle superintending engineer Sanjay Arora, consumers with dues pending for three months or more had their connections disconnected. To curb further violations, around 30 teams were formed at the departmental level to verify such cases. During the drive, teams detected 33 instances of electricity theft, including 15 cases where supply was already officially disconnected.In one significant case, officials raided a premises in the Raddi Chowki area owned by Mohammad Shakeel Khan, where an e-rickshaw charging station was found to be operating using stolen electricity. The team found that the incoming service wire had been tampered with to draw power directly. While the sanctioned load was 9.9 kW, the actual load recorded during inspection was 13.528 kW, with four e-rickshaws being charged at the time.A case has been registered under Section 135 of the Electricity Act, and a theft assessment bill of Rs 3.76 lakh, along with a compounding charge of Rs 95,000, has been issued to the consumer, officials said.