Complainants at the Bihar State Electricity Board chairman’s janata darbar in Patna on Monday. Picture by Deepak Kumar

Patna, Oct. 10: Kapildeo Pandit, a resident of Sinha Library Road, today came to the Bihar State Electricity Board (BSEB) chairman’s monthly janata darbar with a plea to rectify an inflated power bill of Rs 4.73 lakh for domestic usage.

Thirty-three other complainants from across the state also approached the darbar to get their problems redressed.

Patna Electric Supply Undertaking (Pesu) general manager SKP Singh directed the officials concerned over the phone to get the bill corrected as soon as possible as it was a case of faulty billing.

Problems of other complainants ranged from installation of new transformers, capacity augmentation of transformers, rural electrification, inflated bills, new connections, fixing poles, wires and others.

BSEB chairman P.K. Rai, along with Rana Awadhesh (board member, administration), board secretary K.K. Verma, Patna Electric Supply Undertaking (Pesu) general manager SKP Singh and Central Electricity Supply Area (Cesa) general manager B.K. Sinha gave a patient hearing to registered complainants individually and assured that their grievances would be addressed at the earliest, board spokesman H.R. Pandey told The Telegraph.

Baban Singh and a few others from Semrao village in Bhojpur district created a scene at the camp, claiming he has been approaching Cesa general manager B.K. Sinha several times but in vain.

The group wanted an assurance from the chairman for redressal of their grievances. Singh said the villagers had applied for a power connection for a tubewell in 2005 and made fresh attempts to get the connection in 2009 but in vain.

Baliram Singh, a resident of Punpun area in Patna district, was critical of the board’s apathetic attitude in rectifying his grievance for installing an electric pole. At present, the electric wire dangles on bamboo poles, endangering lives.

Pancham Ram, a resident of Lakhanpar Bagicha in Punpun block, said electricity is yet to reach his village. The chairman assured him that electricity would reach the village as part of the rural electrification scheme.

This was the 10th state-level consumers’ redressal camp organised by the board since January. The camp is being organised the second Monday of every month. Sourcessaid the number of complainants is dwindling each month as the camps are being organised by the board at the district-level itself.

“The reason behind the dwindling number of complainants could be attributed to the fact that camps are being organised on a monthly basis in every district and hence, people are not coming to the state capital. Instead, they are approaching the camps at their respective officials’ camp at the district level where their grievances are being redressed,” one of the board officials said.