PCB,MSEDCL spar over ‘frequent’ road-digging work

While the officials of the PCB allege the MSEDCL was frequently violating the rules in laying the cables,the power utility maintains that due permission is being taken for road digging.

A recent instance that sparked a tussle between the two bodies is the road-digging by MSEDCL at Fatima Nagar which the cantonment board says was undertaken without its permission. The cantonment board has asked the company to pay the penalty amounting to nearly Rs 12 lakh for the digging at Fatima Nagar near Big Bazar store. However the MSEDCL in its reply to the cantonment board has asked that it was unaware about the boundary limits of the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) and PCB and had sought the permission of the Corporation for the road digging. PCB officials in their letter to the company informed it that the road falls within the jurisdiction of the board and asked for payment of fine.

PCB officials say the road-digging at Fatima Nagar was not an isolated case and that the electricity distribution company has been frequently violating the norms. “Of all the departments,MSEDCL is a frequent violator,” said a cantonment official. He pointed out that the cantonment board earlier last year in April wrote to the MSEDCL taking strong exception to the digging of a nearly 250 feet-long stretch of Dasthur Meher (DM) road in the cantonment area without permission from the PCB. PCB asked the MSEDCL to cough up Rs 49,320,which were three times more than the original road digging charges.

PCB vice-president Manzoor Nazir Shaikh said that the MSEDCL was the most frequent violator. “We fined the company recently and have apprised it not to carry out digging without our permission,” he said.

However,superintending engineering (SE),MSEDCL,A S Mahadar said the digging was being carried out only after due permission. “The work is being carried out to lay the power cables so that people get the electricity,” he said. Mahadar said that at Fatima Nagar the company had sought the permission from PMC but carried the road digging which extended into the PCB area as well. Official records revealed that the total area that was dug by the MSEDCL without the permission from the PCB was 235 square metre. “Our charges for the Bitumin road for per square metre is Rs 1200 and for the footpath is Rs 1800. However we levy higher charges in case of violations,” said an official.