Gurgaon: New Palam Vihar will pay for power theft, 4-hour outage to cover for line loss

The Haryana government has issued strict instructions to utilities to check power theft and boost supply

It’s not good news for the residents of New Palam Vihar, as they will soon have to pay for some people indulging in electricity theft. The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitaran Nigam (Dhbvn) said it will cut electricity supply for four hours daily in the area to compensate for the line-loss from Wednesday.

The Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitaran Nigam (Dhbvn) said it will cut electricity supply for four hours daily in the area to compensate for the line-loss from Wednesday. (File Photo)

The residents made their misgivings known over the utility’s power cut plan.

The department has failed to fix the power theft problem of the city.

“We are surprised to hear that they will cut down on electric supply to compensate for line loss. We have not received any information from the department in this regard,” said Azad Kataria, a resident.

“The officials can check every house for meter tampering and illegal connections at night. There are several other ways to deal with power theft,” Kataria said.

Lokesh Sharma, another resident, said, “The residents of New Palam Vihar are being targeted because this locality is yet to be regularized by the Haryana government. Power theft is happening across the city and even in posh localities.”

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Navin Verma, superintending engineer (SE) Dhbvn Gurgaon Circle I, said that New Palam Vihar has reported 35 percent line-loss.

“We have direction from the government to consider the line loss percentage while supplying power. The line loss is less than 20% in areas where the DHBVN supplies power for 24 hours, while it goes up to 20-25% in areas where the supply is for 22 hours. The line loss is anywhere between 25% and 35% in areas where the DHBVN supplies power for 20 hours. The supply is further reduced to 18% in areas where the line loss has been reported at between 35% and 50%. In areas where the loss is more than 50%, the supply is reduced to 12 hours,” Verma said.

The DHBVN official said the residents will have to cooperate in order to check power theft, as it has emerged as a major cause of concern for the Haryana government. It has issued strict directions to utilities to check power theft and boost supply.