Faced with mounting losses due to constant electricity theft, District Magistrate Doda Vishesh Paul Mahajan, on Tuesday, exercising powers under the Section 144 Cr.PC, restrained shopkeepers from selling heating gadgets to customers not having a valid power connection or to those who have not paid their last electricity bill.
The DM said that during winter months, excessive use of heating gadgets by some people leads to heavy load on the available electricity causing inconvenience to the general public in the form of unscheduled power cuts.
The unregulated use of high power consuming electrical gadgets, that too, by such consumers who do not have electricity connections or have not paid their outstanding electricity dues cause inconvenience to the law abiding genuine consumers and institutions dealing with services of emergent nature like patient care etc.
He ordered that shopkeepers shall not sell electrical appliances such as heaters, geysers, ACs, etc. to such customers.
Meanwhile, Chief Secretary Dr. Arun Mehta while reviewing the winter preparedness of power across J&K, ordered that unscheduled power cuts are unacceptable.
He reiterated directions for installation of at least 1.5 lakh smart meters each in Srinagar and Jammu cities by March 2023.
The Chief Secretary also directed for concluding immediate disciplinary action against officials in charge of feeders with losses greater than 90 percent. Aggregated technical and commercial (AT&C) losses should be maintained below 15 percent.
The meeting was attended by Principal Secretary Power Development Department (PDD), H. Rajesh Prasad; Managing Director JPDCL, Shiv Anant Tayal and Managing Director KPDCL, Yasin M Choudhary among other senior officers of the discoms.