MSEDCL cracks down on power thefts as demand-supply gap widens
Nagpur: Even as the political atmosphere over power shortage heated up, Nagpurians heaved a sigh of relief as there is no load-shedding in the Second Capital of Maharashtra. Thanks to Adani’s Tiroda plant which quickly doubled-up its generation, the threat of load-shedding in the city has subsided, according to MSEDCL sources.
Meanwhile, faced with widening demand-supply gap on the power front, the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (MSEDCL) launched a drive against power thefts with a view to plug the gap. About 42 cases of unauthorised usage of power were detected in Nagpur Circle, especially on agriculture feeders. Throughout the State a special focus is on agriculture feeders to curb unauthorised drawl of power.
During the checks, the feeder where extra load is detected the MSEDCL team undertook a visit and detected usage of hooks to draw the power. Offence under sections 135 and 126 of Indian Electricity Act, 2003, was registered against the culprits. The offence is non-cognisable and non-bailable. The drive started in Circle from April 21 and will continue further, warned MSEDCL.
The MSEDCL , to stave off load-shedding or restrict it to the minimum possible time, is frantically searching for options to get additional power to meet the growing demand in the State. The MahaGenco was producing 6800 MW and was asked to increase production to 7500 MW. Adani plant whose production had dipped to 1700 MW has increased it to2250 MW and would further step it to 3011 MW. This additional power is going to come handy in keeping the load-shedding at bay.
With summer at its peak, the power demand increased to unprecedented levels. The shortfall in demand and supply has now risen to 2500 MW. On Friday, some areas in the city under Category C faced power cuts. These feeders are those where losses (distribution and collection) are in range of 24 to 36per percent as transmission from Adani’s power plant dipped due to shortage of coal.
