Water supply to Mandya was severely paralysed on Tuesday as the Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Corporation (CESC) disconnected electricity lines to two pumping stations near Srirangapatna for non-payment of dues.
The Mandya City Municipal Council (CMC) owes Rs. 19 crore to CESC. The power supply company had toughened its stand for non-payment of electricity dues by disconnecting power supply to pumping stations in Srirangapatna and Garudanapura, near Srirangapatna, which supply water to Mandya, at 10.30 a.m.
Reconnected“However, the power connection was restored at 3.45 p.m. after the CMC issued a cheque for Rs. 1.82 crore,” P. Rangaswamy, Assistant Executive Engineer, CESC, Pandavapura, told The Hindu. In spite of several reminders and disconnection notices, the city municipal council had not cleared the dues for the past three years, Mr. Rangaswamy said.
Power connection to water pumping stations was cut as per the directives of R. Kiran Kumar, CESC Managing Director, and Muniraju, Chief Engineer, to Mr. Rangaswamy on Monday evening.
Meanwhile, the CMC has decided to issue show-cause notices to the officers of CESC for taking such a harsh measure. “It's unfortunate that the CESC disconnected power supply to water pumping stations. Water is the basic need of every citizen. We will issue notices to the officers concerned, seeking clarification in this regard,” N.M. Shashikumar, Commissioner of CMC, told this correspondent on Tuesday.
Mr. Shashikumar alleged that the CESC had not brought the matter to the notice of CMC before resorting to disconnection. However, Mr. Rangaswamy said that the CESC had informed the CMC officials concerned on Monday evening about disconnecting the power supply. The government had not released the funds for payment of electricity bills. The dues will be cleared shortly, Mr. Shashikumar said. There are 35 wards under the Mandya CMC.
