DINDIGUL: With the Dindigul municipal corporation’s pending power bills from the past five years having crossed Rs 10 crore, top Tangedco officials are an upset lot. As per Tangedco’s records, power supply to urban segments, including street lights, water pumping stations, water treatment plants and the corporation office have raked up a bill of Rs 10.16 crore between March 2019 and March 2024.
A top Tangedco official said, “Every town panchayat and municipality has pending power bill dues, with most running into lakhs of rupees. However, the Dindigul corporation has the highest dues. While we sent notices to the corporation earlier, we have now informed our seniors as the bills have run into crores. Since the power is used for street lights and STPs, among other things, we cannot disconnect the power supply over non-payment of dues.”
Dindigul city Mayor J Ilamathi said "There were severe tax collection problems during the Covid-19 pandemic and the lockdown. Since Dindigul town is a small municipality, we could not mobilise the funds, and as a result, we were forced to pay for essential services. This caused a delay in paying power bills. We will resolve the issue steadily."
Elaborating further, Dindigul City Municipal Corporation Commissioner N Ravichandran said, "Every municipality has their financial issues related to taxes and funds. We distribute finance aid and funds. While usage related to common power connections remains the same, some arrears are holding back the financial position of the civic body.
For the past five years, power consumption has increased proportionately. Every month, we are paying Rs 25 lakh to Tangedco to settle the massive dues. Despite these payments, the arrears have swelled to Rs 10.12 crore. We have informed the higher officials in the municipal administration and Tangedco about the issue. "