Chandigarh, September 30
Lead by example seems to be the new buzzword in Haryana’s two power utilities. The top brass of the department is all set to teach the staff at the lower rung a lesson or two in how to cut down power theft and maintain reliable supply while bringing down line losses.

Chairman-cum-Managing Director of the two utilities, the Uttar Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (UHBVN) and the Dakshin Haryana Bijli Vitran Nigam (DHBVN), Devender Singh, in an innovative experiment, has decided to not only adopt one feeder each in the two utilities but directed the Additional Managing Director, the Director, the Chief General Manager and the General Manager to adopt two feeders of 11 KV level.

“The Directors will be required to adopt a feeder each in the circles under them and so on,” he said. With line losses hovering around 30 per cent, Haryana is losing a lot of revenue, especially when the utilities are already in the red and have Rs 4,000 crores due as arrears. The idea behind the “adoption” is to bring down line losses to 15 per cent in the domestic sector and 5 per cent in the industrial sector.

“Any losses more than this mean that we are faltering somewhere and we need to check it. The effort through the adoption exercise would not only be loss reduction and recovery of arrears, but also maintaining reliable supply by ensuring maintenance,” the CMD said. He has decided to give his officers a month to show results.“I have adopted one of the most difficult feeders in Panipat and will work on improving all kind of services to the consumers being served through that feeder. This particular feeder is notorious for power thefts and the loss from this particular feeder alone is about Rs 8 crore. I have taken it on myself to show my staff that everything is achievable once we decide to do something,” he said.

It would be ensured that the complaints of consumers were minimised and got redressed promptly, he added. Over 20 feeders, with around 50 transformers each, would be adopted in the first round. These cater to around 2,000 households. People found stealing power would be booked, penalties imposed and all arrears due from that respective feeder would be recovered. “We will have to segregate the consumers into those who are connected and not paying up as also those who are disconnected for some reason and are taking power supply in another name,” he said..