The executive engineers of two divisions of Bangalore Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) - Hebbal and Jalahalli – have sent notices to many government offices for nonpayment of electricity bills amounting to crores of rupees within the divisions. These offices include Bangalore Water Supply and Sewerage Board (BWSSB), Bruhat Bengaluru Mahanagara Palike (BBMP), Horticulture Department, Bangalore Development Authority (BDA), and village panchayats.
In the four sub-divisions of Hebbal (Ganganagar, Kaval Byrasandra, Yelahanka, and Sahakaranagar sub-divisions), a whopping ₹131.8 crore is due by various departments. Across the sub-divisions, BWSSB has the highest dues of ₹65.09 crore, while BBMP comes next as it has not paid ₹54.53 crore. In Jalahalli (Jalahalli, Vidyaranyapura, Soladevanahalli sub-divisions), by the end of October, ₹99.2 crore was remaining in dues across departments.
The notices have warned that if the dues are not cleared within seven days, electricity supply will be cut off to these offices in the divisions. With such dues pending at several government offices in the Bescom jurisdiction, notices are being sent out to many divisions.
“Most of the dues we see are pertaining to water supply and streetlights. However, if we cut off power supply to those lines, then it will cause inconvenience to the public. That is why we will be cutting off power supply to the corresponding offices. After we started sending notices, we have seen some dues being cleared. But a lot more is yet to be received,” said a senior official of Bescom.
