THE SMALL-SCALE Oil Manufacturers Association on Thursday staged a demonstration at GT Road in protest against the raids conducted by KESCo at their establishments.
Teams of KESCo officials conducted raids on oil mills located at Zarib Chowki yesterday. Opposing the raids, several mill owners kept their establishments closed today and also staged a demonstration along with the Uttar Pradesh Plastic Products Association.
The traders leveled allegations of undue harassment against them by the KESCo officials. Traders said they would stage a demonstration if the harassment continued against them. They also stated that the oil and plastic industries were reeling under severe financial crisis and if the harassment continued then the traders would be forced to shut down their business.
Addressing the gathering, general secretary of Kanpur Udyog Vyapar Mandal Manikant Jain said that despite everything being in order including the meters and their seals, the KESCo officials were harassing the traders to extort money.
They asked the Kesco officials to refrain from harassing traders or else be ready for the consequences.
However, the KESCo officials have a different opinion. According to a senior Kesco official, oil mills, plastic factories, dal mills and leather industries together account for the maximum pilferage of power in the city. “It is only when they are caught red-handed, the traders resort to all sort of gimmicks to exert pressure on the power officials,” stated an official.
He also pointed out that maximum line loss was also reported from the commercial hubs of the city, which once again proved that the traders were involved in the rampant power theft in the city. It may be recalled that at the instructions of chief secretary R Ramani, KESCo Management launched a month-long raid and combing operation in the city. During the drive, the teams raided commercial establishments and also removed several ‘katia’ connections.
{{/usCountry}}He also pointed out that maximum line loss was also reported from the commercial hubs of the city, which once again proved that the traders were involved in the rampant power theft in the city. It may be recalled that at the instructions of chief secretary R Ramani, KESCo Management launched a month-long raid and combing operation in the city. During the drive, the teams raided commercial establishments and also removed several ‘katia’ connections.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, the KESCo squads checked 337 power connections in various parts of the city. During the drive, at least 130 connections were found to be defective while 50 cases of pilferage were detected by the KESCo officials.
Apart from this, 134 connections were also snapped by the raiding teams. With special emphasis on illegal connections, the KESCo teams also removed 502 katia connections in the city.
KESCo general manager MP Tripathi told Hindustan Times that revenue of Rs 68.5 lakh was realised during the drive.