ONGOLE: Village panchayats in Prakasam district are yet to clear power dues worth Rs 160 crore, according to AP Central Power Distribution Corporation Limited (APCPDCL). No payment has been made for nearly a decade as there were no elected members till now, and only funds issued by the Finance Commission Grants to the local bodies were available, officials said.
Last December, power supply to panchayat buildings in Bestavarapeta, Cumbham and Arthaveedu mandals were stopped for 10 days due to non-payment of dues worth Rs 20 crore. As most of the 1,010 villages in the district have heavy power dues, the government recently issued orders asking the village special officers to use up to 40 per cent of the Finance Commission funds to clear the pending bills as early as possible.
APCPDCL superintendent engineer (Ongole) KVG Satyanarayana said: “All the six divisions in the district are yet to clear power dues worth Rs 160 crore. At least Rs 25 crore in power bills is pending with every division. Recently, a few panchayats cleared bills worth Rs 48 crore.” On the other hand, the newly-elected sarpanchs and their council members are fearing that if they clear the power dues then they may run into a fund crisis, and cannot complete development works already in the pipeline.
“As per the rule, the panchayats are allowed to use only 15 per cent of the funds of the total grants sanctioned by the Finance Commissions. The district authorities should direct the village panchayat special officers to use only 15 per cent of the 14th and 15th Finance Commission funds for clearance of the electricity dues,” Veerabhadrachary, president of the village sarpanch association, told TNIE on Sunday.
