Power utilities give shock to farmers in Telangana

Hyderabad: The Telangana farmers are in for a rude shock. The power utilities are getting ready to disconnect the domestic electricity connection of the farmers who fail to pay the consumer charges for using the free power supply to agricultural needs before the end of December 31.

Farmers have to pay Rs 30 per HP ( horse power) as charges for using the free power every year. Official sources that the field level Electricity authorities have received instructions from senior officers of the two Discoms (TSSPDCL and TSNPDCL) to conduct a survey on the total number of farmers who had not paid the user-charges till date.

The state has nearly 23 lakh farm pumpsets in the state, officials said and most of them were located under the purview of TSNPDCL covering old Warangal, Khammam, Nizamabad, Adilabad and Karimnagar districts. The TSSPDCL was covering the old districts Nalgonda, Ranga Reddy, Mahbubnagar and Medak districts where the farming activity was high.

It is binding on every farmer who utilises the government sponsored 24-hour free power supply for agriculture purpose to pay the consumer charges every year. The discoms noticed that many were not paying the charges regularly.

Since the farming season is in full swing, the power utilities decided to cut power supply to the houses of the farmers who do not pay the bills by the last day of this year.

The authorities have launched a campaign in the villages asking the farmers to pay user-charges immediately or face the action.