NOIDA: Rampal and Chatru might be two people who pay the highest domestic power bills in India. The two residents were found operating private electricity distribution networks that supplied illegal electricity to hundreds of people living in the city’s floodplains and illegal slums by setting up their own private transformers during an ongoing drive against power theft in the city.Rampal, who lives in Radha Kunj colony of Parthala Khanjarpur in Hindon floodplain area, managed to get for himself an authorised load of 196 kVA, equivalent to what a mid-sized farmer, a small manufacturing unit, and an entrepreneur’s office building need. He got the connection on April 21, 2012, and currently pays a monthly bill of Rs 8.4 lakh.A team from the power department on Monday found Rampal had set up a private transformer and distributed meters to over 100 households in the unauthorised colony.Chatru, a resident of Parthala village, had a sanctioned load connection of 200 kVA. He too was found engaged in similar unauthorised distribution to about 120 consumers in the village.“Chatru was paying a Rs 3.8 lakh monthly bill for a connection that he took on March 20, 2012. Both Chatru and Rampal were found illegally supplying electricity to unauthorised consumers in the area, charging approximately Rs 300 per connection and a rate of Rs 11 per unit, as against the authorised Rs 7.50 per unit of the discom,” PVVNL executive engineer (billing) Shivam Tripathi said.According to power department officials, domestic connections with high load were not new in the district and have become increasingly easier to obtain after the department rolled out a facility to increase sanctioned grid capacity by submitting a load change request to UPPCL. However, distributing that load further for commercial gains was unauthorised, and action has been initiated against the two under Section 126 of the Electricity Act 2003, which deals with the assessment of charges for the unauthorised use of electricity, PVVNL chief engineer Sanjay Kumar Jain said.“We have confiscated wires, meters and distribution infrastructure installed by both Chatru and Rampal. Both are absconding. We have initiated action against them, and FIRs will also be lodged,” PVVNL executive engineer (raid and enforcement) Amit Tripathi said. The department is also trying to ascertain if there were more such parallel power distributors operating in the area.TOI on Monday found the room where Rampal had installed a transformer for setting up his parallel distribution network locked.In the last four days, the electricity department has snapped more than 3,500 illegal power connections and filed over 40 FIRs in Parthala, Sadullapur, Chotpur and Chhajarsi areas of Hindon floodplain as part of a drive against electricity theft. Over 150 kilowatts of power theft has been detected so far.“Action is being initiated to register cases against all illegal connections under Section 135 of the Electricity Act, 2003, at Anti-Power Theft Police Station in Sector 63. Also, a complaint of extortion from residents on the pretext of providing electricity supply has been lodged,” Jain said.Meanwhile, the disconnection of unauthorised power connections has triggered massive protests. Residents cited significant inconvenience due to the sudden outage and alleged that the electricity department disconnected cables and supply lines in the colony without prior notice.“Power has been disconnected for the past two days. Children and families are suffering without power and water. We have paid for house registration and roads in the area. How come this has become a floodplain area now? Registry of homes should not have been done here if it was a floodplain area,” Ushe Devi from Chotpur area said.Another resident said they were willing to pay for a metered connection, provided one was given to them.According to Jain, power connections in floodplain areas are not allowed under a 2010 govt order. However, unauthorised connections have thrived, leading to a massive revenue loss. “The department has reiterated that electricity theft and illegal distribution are serious offences, punishable under the law. No legal, authorised connections are being disconnected,” said Jain.Noida MLA Pankaj Singh also flagged the issue on X. He said he had spoken to the chief minister’s office and senior departmental officials the previous evening, apprising them of the situation and the difficulties faced by residents. He said he had asked that valid connections not be disconnected and that, on humanitarian grounds, temporary connections be extended to those without power, in accordance with rules, while strict action was taken against those illegally profiting from power theft. He said he had received an assurance that no valid connection would be disconnected and that further action would account for residents’ ground realities.
