Mohit Kandhari
JAMMU: The richie-rich club of power defaulters in Jammu and Kashmir is getting fatter with every passing day.
After issuing public notice to defaulting consumers with outstanding above Rs 10 lakh, the Power Development Department on Wednesday issued another notice to them with outstanding power bills above Rs 5 lakh.
The defaulters have been directed to deposit their bills within next 15 days failing which the power supply would be snapped to their installations.
CM Omar Abdullah is himself in charge of the Power Development Department.
Ironically, five members of his Council of Ministers staying in Government accommodation and son of a senior most Cabinet colleague also figure in the list of power defaulters.
According to the PDD notice, a sum of Rs 41.84 lakh is outstanding against these VVIPs in the State.
A sum of Rs 9.83 lakh is outstanding against Hilal Ahmad Rather, Rajbagh as on December 31, 2012. Hilal is son of State Finance Minister Abdul Rahim Rather.
A sum of Rs 31.91 lakh is also pending against Simula Software Solutions, Vidhata Nagar, Bhathindi as on December 31, 2012 as per the PDD notice issued on January 17, 2013. Hilal Rather is CEO of Simular Software Solutions.
Ironically, a sum of Rs 6.57 lakh, Rs 6.32 lakh, Rs 6.33 lakh, Rs 6.42 lakh and Rs 6.35 lakh is outstanding against Cabinet Ministers staying in Kothi No 7, Kothi No 3, Kothi No 5, Kothi No 6, and Kothi No 8 respectively under Sub Division-1 Parade in Jammu as on December 31, 2012.
The long list of defaulters also includes owners of industrial units, car showrooms owned by political heavyweights, State/Centre Government departments, banks, BSNL, private telecom companies, guesthouses/hotels, offices of security personnel in the State.
According to the PDD notice, a sum of Rs 1,672.43 lakh is outstanding against power consumers in the Jammu region while a sum of Rs 389.84 lakh is outstanding from the Kashmir region.
According to the official records, a sum of Rs 5,387.68 lakh is pending against those consumers with outstanding above Rs 10 lakh.
It remains to be seen whether the enforcement wing of the PDD set up to boost the poor situation in the State would be able to discipline these power consumers and recover the amount from their kitty to improve the power situation in the State in the coming days.
The PDD is expected to recover Rs 1,100-1,200 crore total revenue leaving a gap of over 2,000 crore in the current financial year.
(The author is correspondent, Daily Pioneer)
