IMPHAL, Jul 5: A sum of Rs 40,81,578 was collected by the Manipur State Power Distribution Company Limited (MSPDCL) from people who tapped power illegally or by-passed meter system.
MSPDCL launched a drive last year against illegal tapping of power and by-passing of meter system at 5694 different places and the drive continued till January 31 this year. Apart from collecting Rs 40,81,578, altogether 636 cases of taping power illegally were detected while 206 numbers of FIRs were registered, informed an official source.
Whereas charge-sheets were filed in 106 cases, the department disposed 326 cases while 123 other cases were disposed by Courts. 113 other cases pertaining to power theft are pending at the Special Court. The total loss of power due to illegal tapping may be around 4,82,972 KW.
The company has already started supplying power 24 hours a day except for power shut down due to problems in power lines. Pre-paid meters have also been installed at all district headquarters.
If the power tax collected by the company does not commensurate the quantity of power supplied in a particular area on account of illegal tapping, the company may either stop supplying power to the particular transformer or load shedding system may be re-introduced, informed the source.
