Jamshedpur, Sept. 21: A word of caution for Durga Puja organisers in East and West Singhbhum and Seraikela-Kharsawan: do not try to pilfer power to add extra glitter to pandals. It could land you in legal trouble.

Both Jharkhand State Electricity Board (JSEB) and Tata Steel have stepped up efforts to end power thefts, which is eating into their revenue.

While JSEB ensure power supply in West Singhbhum, Saraikela-Kharsawan and some parts of East Singhbhum, Tata Steel provides power in its command areas.

The Jamshedpur area board authorities of JSEB have issued instructions to all junior engineers within its jurisdiction to crack the whip on those organisers who pilfer power.

JSEB sources told The Telegraph that several e puja organisers do not even formally apply for connections to light up pandals during five days of festivities.

“Most of the organisers tap power from overhead wires. Besides the financial loss, transformers are damaged due to extra load. And the ultimate sufferers are the people residing in that area,” sources said.

However, the scenario could be a little different this time, with senior members of the board, including its chairman Rajiv Ranjan, serious about curbing power thefts in the state during the ensuing puja festival.

“A big portion of the area board’s total revenue loss takes place during the five days of the festival as several puja organisers pilfer power,” sources said.

However, this time area board officials are ensuring that each of the organisers within its jurisdiction formally applies for power connection to the board well ahead of time, spelling out the details of the requirement.

“We are trying to control power thefts during the festival. This time the organisers have to spell out the amount of load that they would be taking during these five days. It would help us in finding out whether it would have any impact on the load on the transformer of that area,” the general manager of Jamshedpur area board of JSEB, Anant Sagar, said.

According to Sagar, junior engineers of the area board are being issued letters to make sure that each of the organisers within their area adheres to the norms of JSEB in trying to procure connections.

“Or else, we could file cases against erring organisers in police stations,” he said.

For Tata Steel, the problem is not as acute as JSEB as it supplies power only to those organisers that are authorised. “But there are a few cases where the organisers do not take permission from the district administration for pujas and tap power illegally,” sources said.

“We are going to make a list of such organisers and submit it to the district administration to initiate legal action against them,” Tata Steel sources said.

Tata Steel deputy MD A.N. Singh said: “In case we detect power thefts, we would inform the police and could even lodge cases against them.”

Farmer killed: A farmer was murdered and a woman electrocuted in two separate incidents in Nawadih block of Bermo subdivision late last night, reports our Bokaro correspondent.

Police have sent both bodies for post-mortem to Chas. According to sources, some unknown persons killed a 45-year-old farmer Darshan Karigar of Birwa Bhalmara village, around 4 km from Nawadih police station.

In another incident, an elderly woman was electrocuted in Majhalitand of Nawadih late last evening.