Chembur cuts: Power minister asked to intervene

Mumbai: Union minister Ramdas Athawale has requested power minister Cha-ndrashekhar Bawankule to intervene in the wake of Reliance Energy disconnecting power supply to 3,250 consumers of Sid-dharth Colony in Chembur on Tuesday to recover dues to the tune of Rs 63 crore.

Reliance Energy discontinued power supply to the consumers of Siddharth Colony on Tuesday morning. However, it was restored  9.40 pm. The said dues have been pending for over a decade and residents were creating a nuisance for Reliance Energy by urging them to forego the amount.

Company employees were threatened and detained several times, so they could not get the meter reading for the period between 2005-2013. The residents are mostly from the dalit community. Mr Athawale had tried to mediate to ensure the issue does not escalate. After power was disconnected, the residents app-roached Mr Athawale, who wrote a letter to energy minister Mr Bawankule.

Mr Athawale said, “Now, the builder has come forward for redevelopment and he will pay all dues.” The residents staged a protest at Chembur naka Tuesday evening against the cutting of 3,250 power connections.

“Till 2002-03 we used to pay not more than Rs 300 for electricity. After that we received power bills of Rs 700-800. We paid the bills till 2004 and tried to talk to officials. However, they did not revert,” said Kailash Harawde, a resident of the colony for over 50 years.

“There has been no electricity since morning. Without power we can’t even switch on the motor to get water for our daily chores. It will be difficult for us if this continues,” said Shalini Gangurde, a resident. Supply at Siddhartha Colony was restored at 9.40pm on Tuesday.

A Reliance Energy spokesperson said, “Despite repeated reminders 93 per cent customers of Siddhartha Colony in Chembur have not paid their dues for over a decade. We were constrained to take action and hence we had disconnected the power supply.

However, on humanitarian grounds, we have temporarily restored the supply. We hope that the consumers will come forward to pay their outstanding dues.”