Businessmen and professionals in Gaya and Bodhgaya fear a return to the dark days

Gaya: Businessmen and professionals in Gaya and Bodhgaya fear a return to the dark days of very few hours of power supply, poor quality of power, voltage fluctuations, and power theft.

A release, issued on Tuesday by Central Bihar Chamber of Commerce president Kaushalendra Pratap and general secretary Pramod Kumar Bhadani, expressed the community’s apprehension over the South Bihar Power Distribution Company (SBPDCL) sacking its franchisee, India Power Corporation Limited, and taking over the electricity supply.

The distribution company had last Thursday taken over power distribution work in Gaya from India Power, saying the private firm had failed to honour the terms of distribution franchise agreement. The firm supplied power since June 2014 to Gaya, Manpur under Gaya Municipal Corporation limits, and Bodhgaya.

Before India Power took over, the power scenario in these areas was dismal. Return to such a situation would not be acceptable to the business body, the release stated.

Arun Kumar Prasad, head of department of philosophy at MG College in Gaya, recalled how grim power distribution was when India Power took over the job in 2014.

“There has been quantitative and qualitative improvement in the power supply system in the town since then,” Prasad said. “We get power for much longer periods of time, and complaints of voltage fluctuation have gone down. The changed power scenario saw and upsurge in the use of electrical and electronic appliances including air-conditioners, geysers and kitchen appliances like microwave ovens.”

Dr Ram Sewak, president of the Gaya chapter of the Indian Medial Association, said that except for some billing complaints, India Power was doing a very good job.

Vijay Kumar, chief engineer (commercial) of the SBPDCL, urged the power consumers not to nurse any bias against the government company. “Let our work speak for us,” he said.

Courtesy: The Telegraph