GADAG: A government office in Lakshmeshwar has been functioning without electricity for the past eight months, forcing visitors and staff to use mobile phone flashlights to submit and receive documents.
While the state government provides free electricity to households under the Gruha Jyoti scheme, the Land Records and Urban Survey Office in Lakshmeshwar has remained without power after Hubli Electricity Supply Company (HESCOM) disconnected the supply over non-payment of electricity bills.
According to officials, the pending electricity bill is around Rs 3,000. An official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said the power supply was disconnected nearly eight months ago and both the public and office staff have been working in darkness ever since. Lakshmeshwar, a rapidly growing town in Gadag district and now a taluk centre, continues to face basic infrastructure issues at its land records office.
Residents alleged that only two employees are currently handling the entire workload of the office. The office is responsible for several crucial tasks, including land and property measurement, boundary identification, preparation of maps, maintenance of old survey records, issuance of survey numbers and property cards, and measurement of both private and government lands in urban areas. Despite increasing demand, handwritten maps are still being issued from the office.
Visitors to the office said there are no computers or proper digital facilities, despite government claims of digitising land records and survey maps.
They alleged that staff members are forced to use their personal mobile phones to check applications and access information related to maps, letters and survey details.
Locals have urged the Deputy Commissioner to visit the office, resolve the electricity issue and improve facilities for the benefit of people in the taluk. Meanwhile, an official from the Department of Land Survey and Land Records in Shirahatti said a staff member from the Lakshmeshwar city survey office had already been sent to the treasury to clear the pending electricity bill and that the power supply would be restored soon.
