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Amid delay in Lavasa takeover, hardships of hill city residents increase
Several residents have now complained about being deprived of basic services such as water supply after the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd terminated the power supply of common utilities owing to non-payment of electricity dues worth Rs22.80 crore
Amidst the delay in the takeover of Lavasa Corporation Ltd. (LCL) by the Darwin group, the woes of the residents of the hill city are on the rise with each passing day. Several residents have now complained about being deprived of basic services such as water supply after the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd. (MSEDCL) terminated the power supply of common utilities owing to non-payment of electricity dues worth Rs22.80 crore. As such, the water treatment- and sewage treatment- plants, street lighting and other facilities managed by LCL at the private hill city are now without power. So much so that the LCL is in the process of approaching the Supreme court (SC) to seek relief for the residents, sources said.
As individual residential units have their own electricity meters and pay directly to the MSEDCL, their power supply remains unaffected. However, locals staying in rental apartments, including nearly 2,000 students from Christ University, are facing a severe water shortage as the LCL supplies water to these apartments and has been unable to do so owing to disconnection of power supply. Neelangshu Bagchi, a student of Christ University, said, “While our college has power and water supply, we are individually facing a shortage of water as it is provided by the LCL.”
Whereas LCL officials said that they are in the process of approaching the SC to challenge the September 2 order of the National Company Law Appellate Tribunal (NCLAT), allowing MSEDCL to terminate or suspend the supply of such services over non-payment of dues since 2018. The hill city has a total of 2,544 power connections out of which, dues of 131 connections are pending.
In December 2021, the residents of Lavasa - already at the receiving end of infrastructure bottlenecks since the past many years - had expressed hope following Darwin Platform Infrastructure Limited’s (DPIL’s) winning bid for the hill city. The DPIL got the nod from the committee of creditors (CoC) for its Rs1,864 crore bid to acquire LCL through the insolvency process, which was approved by the debt-ridden firm’s lenders. However, since the final approval from NCLAT is yet to come through, the process of takeover has not yet been completed.
Regarding the delay in the takeover of LCL by the Darwin group, Vineet Tulsyan of R3 Corporate Advisors that advised and guided the Darwin group in the winning bid, said, “The National Company Law Tribunal (NCLT) court has many applications pending. It is high time that the state government look into the matter. It must give a single-window clearance for such a project as it is getting delayed.”
