Power distribution losses down to 7.8%

The electricity distribution losses of the Brihanmumbai Electric Supply and Transport undertaking has dropped from 10.5 per cent to 7.8 per cent,general manager O P Gupta told a committee meeting on Tuesday.

Of these losses,around six per cent has been attributed to technical issues. “The remaining one per cent may be due to electricity thefts,” Gupta said. BEST committee member Sunil Ganacharya said cases of electricity theft were recently reported at Antop Hill and Memon Wada. Mayor Shraddha Jadhav had earlier raised the issue of illegal shanties stealing electricity.

“BEST chairman Ashok Patil even visited the area and checked the electricity bills there. While places running garment machines and small industries run a bill of a few hundreds,a maid-servant’s shanty received a bill of Rs 1 lakh. How is that possible?” Ganacharya said.

SP corporator and committee member Yakub Memon said the problem had not been fully addressed despite the undertaking’s vigilance department raids.