Gurgaon: Discom identifies 540 feeders prone to power theft

After identifying the theft-prone areas, the discom is now bracing to take stricter action against offenders. The DHBVN said the feeder-wise loss survey has revealed that as many as 74 feeders are running in urban estates and have caused a loss of more than 50%

In the wake of frequent outages, power discom Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitaran Nigam (DHBVN) has identified 540 feeders in various parts of the city that are prone to power theft. Power theft, according to discom officials, is leading to power outage in areas.

The DHBVN has lodged 2,450 police complaints of power theft between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2017. (HT Photo)

After identifying the theft-prone areas, the discom is now bracing to take stricter action against offenders. The points are identified as feeders, which consume excess electricity mainly during the summer and cause damages to transformers, wires and metres.

The types of theft include illegal connections and meter-tampering.

The DHBVN said the feeder-wise loss survey has revealed that as many as 74 feeders are running in urban estates and have caused a loss of more than 50%. The officials said this is a huge problem and the only way to check this loss is to shut down the feeders for scheduled cuts.

Besides that, another 466 feeders have a loss level between 20% and 50%.

“Clearly, these feeders, which are located across the city, have a high prevalence of theft that affects the overall performance of the DHBVN. Another impact of these high loss feeders is on honest consumers who are forced to pay more in the form of higher electricity tariffs,” said Navin Verma, superintending engineer, DHBVN Gurgaon.

“It is therefore extremely important for us to curb the theft and supply uninterrupted electricity. We have sought the cooperation of residents in order to curb power theft. Residents can inform our officials of theft that come to their notice and our enforcement team will act against the offenders,” Verma said.

The officials said the department has formed 20 teams to collect feeder wise details. The DHBVN has lodged 2,450 police complaints of power theft between April 1, 2016 and March 31, 2017.

“Line loss and theft have been major concerns for the power department. We are trying our best to improve the situation,” the DHBVN official said.

All unauthorised colonies and several other localities in the city are on the radar of the DHBVN for power theft.