North Delhi residents, especially those residing in unauthorized areas, will have to wade through dark streets as power utility Tata Power DDL has decided to switch off over 65,000 streetlights effective October 15, 2020, due to non-payment of around Rs.22 crore of dues by government body DSIIDC.
Tata Power Delhi Distribution Ltd (Tata Power DDL) has said in a release that owing to unsettled dues of around Rs.22 crore by Delhi State Industrial & Infrastructure Development Corporation (DSIIDC) for the past 32 months, the utility would be unable to maintain streetlights installed in several unauthorized colonies in north and north-west Delhi.
This may lead to unsafe conditions for lakhs of residents, especially senior citizens, women and children, the release noted, adding that Tata Power DDL has already informed the Delhi Police Commissioner about the proposed switching off of the street light and the possible unsafe situations arising out of the same.
“We all know that streetlights act as a deterrent to crime and promote a sense of security among communities,” notes the Tata Power DDL release.
Expressing concern, Ganesh Srinivasan, CEO, Tata Power-DDL said, ‘Tata Power-DDL has always focused on assuring the best of services to its consumers while prioritizing their safety. The non-payment of dues is severely hampering the regular maintenance of the street lights which will cause inconvenience to the consumers as well as other citizens. In such a scenario, it becomes imperative for the authorities to provide us the necessary support in maintaining these streetlights, otherwise these areas will witness darkness, making them unsafe for public. I strongly appeal to the government to intervene and help resolve the issue by directing DSIIDC to release the due payment at the earliest.”
In the past few months, the company has written several letters to all authorities concerned including the Power Ministry, Department of Urban Development, GNCTD for their kind intervention for timely resolution of the issue and immediate release of payment.
Maintenance of street lights in unauthorized areas costs Tata Power-DDL approximately Rs.70 lakh per month and the continuous non-payment of the invoices raised by us resulted in an accumulation of huge arrears, the release noted.
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