Nagpur: Blasting the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) Government over poor show on power front, BJP MLC and former Energy Minister Chandrashekhar Bawankule criticised the decision of MSEDCL to double the security deposit being recovered from consumers. He warned that BJP will stage a state-wide agitation if the MVA Government resorted to forcible recovery of electricity dues from the consumers.
Addressing the media on Friday, the BJP General Secretary squarely blamed the MVA Government for its wrong policies that had pushed Maharashtra to power crisis. “The current shortage of power in the State indicates faulty planning and since last three weeks several parts have suffered undeclared load-shedding. The financial mismanagement at MSEDCL is solely due to non-recovery of dues amounting to thousands of crores from Government departments while common consumers’ power connections are being disconnected for a petty amount of default,” Bawankule said.
The BJP leader further said that the power outage has been on rise in the state since the last three weeks amid the rising temperatures. In some parts, the citizens have to face the load shedding for as long as six hours. On the other hand, the MSEDCL has doubled the security deposit. If this harassment to the consumers is not stopped, the BJP would launch state-wide agitation, he said.
The MLC said the entire power management was crippled in the state, but no attempts were made to recover the dues from the government’s own departments. “The government is faking the maintenance and repair jobs at the power stations to shut the production. It is leading to losing the livelihood of lakhs of poor people in the state. The BJP workers would be on road to protest if the government did not stop power cuts in the name of load-shedding,” Bawankule warned.
According to Bawankule, about 20 generation sets in the state were closed. “Originally, these plants needed to be maintained and repaired when the demand for electricity was low. But the MVA Government was in deep slumber and hence the people of Maharashtra have to face the problem of power shortage in peak summer,” he said.
Meanwhile, Pravin Datke, MLC and President, BJP, Nagpur Unit, also appealed to consumers not to pay the additional security deposit being sought by MSEDCL. He said during the tenure of Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis, Maharashtra was No. 1 in power generation with 25,000 MW, excluding Mumbai, and now within two years due to mismanagement the citizens have to bear the brunt of power cuts, he added.
