Illegal electricity connections, referred to as ‘Katiya’ in Uttar Pradesh, have resurfaced in Kanawani village in Ghaziabad, merely every week after the electricity division disconnected a whole lot of these connections attributable to overloaded transformers, officers stated.
Residents have identified that these illegal connections benefit from the help of influential people and native linemen who cost residents for offering electricity at a month-to-month charge.
Earlier in August, the residents staged protests on August 3 and 4 towards the disconnection of their unlawful connections, colloquially known as ‘Katiya,’ and demanded the set up of professional electricity meters.
Officers from the Paschimanchal Vidyut Vitaran Nigam Restricted (PVVNL) stated that the Kanawani space, developed on the floodplain of river Hindon, boasts roughly 250 legitimate, metered connections. Nevertheless, a further 1800-2000 connections on the floodplains can’t be geared up with meters, as per a 2010 authorities directive.
Ajit Jha, president of the Residents’ Welfare Affiliation (RWA), stated, “Many houses right here on the floodplains have as soon as once more resorted to ‘Katiyas’ for energy. That is enabled by the linemen, who primarily join these through the night time and disconnect them through the daytime. These illicit connections are linked to the closest electricity poles, with some being routed by way of hid wires buried beneath the earth.”
Jha additional stated that households missing connections are urgent for electricity meters, however the authorities have cited the 2010 order prohibiting electricity connections to houses on floodplains.
Throughout a current go to by an HT crew, residents identified that these unauthorized connections are rampant in road numbers 4, 7, and 5, amongst different floodplain areas.
The extreme load imposed by unlawful connections resulted in the malfunction of two PVVNL transformers put in in the neighborhood. The officers carried out a combing operation in August to establish and disconnect these unauthorized connections, triggering protests from residents who endured days with out energy.
Notably, regardless of the set up of a 3rd transformer and the addition of legitimate connections, the issue of unlawful connections persists.
A Kanawani resident, who wished to not be named, stated, “Some residents are resorting to native generator operators, paying ₹200-300 for a cost, and even charging their electrical autos by way of these illegal connections.
Mrityunjaya Pathak, an government engineer of PVVNL, stated, “We conduct day by day combing operations in the world to establish unlawful connections and have requested district officers to offer police help for efficient enforcement. Some of the linemen concerned are personal people and never affiliated with the electricity division. We suspended one of our linemen about 5-6 months in the past attributable to comparable violations. We are going to examine these cases as soon as once more and deal with the reappearance of these unlawful connections.”
