People in the district were fined Rs. 71.27 lakh for electricity theft in the recent inspections, said Kerala State Electricity Board Vigilance Officer Rishi Raj Singh.A special squad of KSEB inspectors made 601 lightning inspections across the district as part of detecting power loss, theft and irregularities. Mr. Singh said that when 34 power theft cases were reported, 87 other irregularities were registered during the inspections.“We will take power theft very seriously. Strong measures will be adopted to check power theft in the State,” he said. Mr. Singh said that the Kerala Water Authority (KWA) had to give Rs. 600 crore to the KSEB. “We have to get a total of Rs. 1,000 crore in arrears,” he said. —Staff Reporter