The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Power snapped to 40 tribal villages

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Sunday, Dec 12, 2004

Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Power snapped to 40 tribal villages

By Our Staff Reporter

KHAMMAM, DEC. 11. Forty tribal villages in the district had to go without power as Transco suspended supply because of non-payment of bills for domestic services. The services were sanctioned under a special provision during the Janmabhoomi programme by the Telugu Desam Government in June 2002.

Since the beneficiaries were from the Scheduled Castes and Tribes, Transco sanctioned the services on payment of a nominal charge of Rs. 225. A majority of the beneficiaries had for long been using power without paying the bills. The arrears mounted but the beneficiaries were not in a position to make the payment.

As the Transco authorities mounted pressure on consumers to clear the arrears, a few paid the bills for a month or two while the rest did not respond to the disconnection intimation. The issue was finally taken up with the Government, which in turn asked the Transco to collect the arrears or disconnect the services. Connections of all such customers were cut en bloc in the 40 villages in Tirumalayapalem, Kusumanchu, Madhira, Khammam rural and a few other mandals. The arrears range from Rs. 2,500 to Rs. 3,000.

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Andhra Pradesh