Ward offices run up power bills in crores

MUMBAI: Believe it or not. The BMC's P/North ward office (Kandivli and neighbouring areas) ran up an electricity bill of Rs 9.49 crore in 2009-10. L ward, Kurla, had power arrears of Rs 8.47 crore for the same period, while the H/East ward office (eastern Bandra, Khar, Santa Cruz and Kalina) paid Rs 7.46 crore in the same fiscal.
In contrast, Mantralaya paid just Rs 5.64 crore and BMC headquarters Rs 2.5 crore in 2009-10.
During this time, Raj Bhavan ran up a bill of Rs 94.81 lakh—up from 87.54 lakh in 2008-09—and CM Ashok Chavan's power consumption at his official residence also spiralled.
"H/East has a large number of slums...illegal power connections (could) have been taken from the ward office," a local corporator said. These figures have been obtained by an activist under the RTI Act.