The Hindu : Andhra Pradesh News : Villages in for dark days

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Nov 02, 2007
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Andhra Pradesh

Andhra Pradesh

Villages in for dark days

Staff Reporter

Transco to disconnect services for ‘failure’ to pay bills for streetlights, water

KHAMMAM: Villages that failed to pay up for their streetlights are in for dark days. Transco authorities have initiated the process of disconnecting 1,579 services dedicated for water works in gram panchayats in Khammam. Another 3,492 services given for street lighting will also be disconnected soon if the panchayats fail to clear the dues that crossed the Rs.5-crore mark.

Monthly demand

The water works and street lighting facilities in some 62 major gram panchayats are likely to meet the same fate as they too owed Rs. 10.87 lakhs to the Transco. The monthly demand from water works and street lighting in the villages is of the order of Rs. 30 lakhs but realisation seldom crossed Rs. 2 lakhs.

Power supply for street lighting and water works in certain villages was already disconnected . In Nereda village of Chintakani mandal, Transco officials tried to stop power supply for street lighting on Thursday. The whole village staged a protest and prevented the staff from disconnecting the service.

Sarpanch Mankena Ramesh said that the outstanding was Rs. 50,000. The fund-strapped gram panchayat was left with no scope for paying the bill.

The village, with a population of 25,000, would get a grant of Rs. 40,000 under the 12 th Finance Commission, which in fact was meant for spending on need-based works. He wanted the power bills of gram panchayats to be met directly by the government as it had been the case hither to. The gram panchayat sarpanches would meet in Khammam on Friday and chalk out the future course of action on the issue.

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