NEW DELHI: The ongoing campaign against power theft in the Capital is all set to gain momentum with the distribution companies hiring the services of the Central Industrial Security Force to provide them security during the anti-theft drives. While three companies of the force have been contracted for, the first of them is about to resume duties soon in the highly theft-prone East Delhi.

A senior official of the State Power Department said on Thursday that need for CISF was felt as the Enforcement Teams of the discoms were facing huge problem in the absence of adequate police support. "Recently in one of the incidents, a showroom owner had even tried to charge the raiding team with a robbery attempt."

However, he said, such lacunae would now be done away with as CISF personnel would escort the enforcement teams. Nevertheless, the CISF personnel and discom teams would conduct raids only under the supervision of local police. The decision on where and when to conduct a raid would be taken by the discoms.

Stating that the Union Ministry of Home Affairs was opposed to the idea of opening separate police stations for registering and investigating the cases of power theft, the official said the presence of CISF would, however, help in registration of first information reports against the accused. The Commissioner of Delhi Police, he said, had also emphasised the need for strengthening the investigating machinery.

Noting that the first company would be provided to BSES Yamuna Power Limited to curb thefts in East Delhi, the official said this discoms percentage of aggregate technical and commercial (AT&C) losses was the highest at 40, followed by BSES Rajdhani Power Limited at 35 per cent and North Delhi Power Limited at 28 per cent.

Losses can be reduced

With the coming in of CISF and setting up of special courts, the official said the loss due to theft was expected to come down further.

All the discoms are expected to reach the 20 per cent AT&C loss level in four years with the NDPL expected to lead. As these losses amount to about Rs. 2,500 crores at present, the savings through such proactive action against theft were expected to result in a saving of between Rs 1,000 crores and Rs 1,500 crores at the end of this period.

Though about Rs. 5 crores per annum would be spent on engaging CISF, the official said, it would still be a profitable venture as the savings resulting from the force's presence would be over a hundred times more.

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