Sanjeev Kumar Patro

Bhubaneswar: It's incredible. The people here have let down the State. For which, Odisha now tops the country in proportion of power lost per theft in towns.

As per the data available under IPDS (Integrated Power Development Scheme) till July 2019, Odisha with a massive 30.54 per cent loss of power per theft sits at the top. In contrast, the all India average value stood at mere 20.24 per cent.

The significant pointer here is the loss proportion /theft in Cesu, which was only recently acquired by Tata Power, is marginally higher (30.64%) than the State average.

Even as the percentage loss per theft in Odisha has shown some improvement since year 2018, still the State sits at the top among the major states in the country.

Consider this: In December 2018, the loss proportion per theft was 37.8 per cent. The value in July 2019 stood at 30.54 per cent. And Cesu has a very worse record on power theft loss.  The loss value was at a high of 40.7 percent in December 2018.

Contrarily, Uttar Pradesh, which had a value of 38.5 per cent in December 2018, pruned the loss value to mere 16.88 per cent as on July end 2019.

Take the case of Bihar. The loss value in December 2018 was 38.1 per cent. The value dropped to 27.72 per cent by July end 2019.

Above all, in power theft, the power loss experienced in Odisha is far higher than the neighbouring states.

A look at CESU's own submission before OERC (Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission) reveals big.

The data shows as many as 2,671 theft cases were detected during the year 2018. The total power theft cases detected during the first five months of current year stood at 830.

The power utility claimed that the loss it incurred due to theft stood at a staggering Rs 366.06 lakh in 2018, and the loss value in first five months this year stood at Rs 111.03 lakhs.

It needs worth mentioning here that in order to tackle the menace, Cesu’s Chief Executive Officer (CEO) Arun Bothra in September this year had announced reward for informers who report power theft. Has the stick & carrot policy worked?

Let's take a look at latest data available. When till September 2019, Cesu received 102 power theft information; post the announcement, in October alone, Cesu received 70 information. In that month, the amount Cesu realised stood at Rs 8.24 lakh vis-a-vis Rs 8.91 lakh from Apr- Sept 2019. And the utility has shelled out Rs 0.82 lakhs reward money vis-a-vis Rs 0.94 lakhs during Apr -Sept 2019.  The rising numbers tell the story.

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