Pending power bills of Gorkhaland movement period haunt hill consumers

YOWAN MOTHAY, EOI, KALIMPONG, SEPTEMBER 3: The Gorkhaland movement that Gorkha Janmukti Morcha led by Bimal Gurung had launched between 2008 and 2011 was settled with the formation of the Gorkhaland Territorial Administration, but the pending electricity bills of the period that have not yet been settled have left the people living in the GTA area worried and anxious.

For, the pending bills have now almost trebled in amount, including the late payment charges. Some people are already getting into difficulties over the pending bills. Those who want to sell their houses or shift the electricity connections to their own names are obliged to clear the pending bills. No political party has so far taken any concrete initiative for settlement of pending power bills. 

According to the Department of Electricity, by the time the electricity bills for 2021 are delivered to the consumers, the late payment charges would almost treble the pending bills. If the pending bills are not settled even now, the late payment charges would increase further. Divisional Manager of West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Corporation Kalimpong Division Furden Sherpa says that the government has taken no decision to pay the pending bills for the period from 2008 and 2011 arising out of non-payment of bills during the agitation period. 

The rule is that if someone sells his house, the electricity bill must be paid. In such a situation, if someone has a pending bill of Rs 10,000. Then including the late payment charges, the total due is now three times the original amount. The Electricity Department has not told anyone to pay the bill. 

Those who are paying the bills are doing so out of their own compulsion. But these kinds of bill payers are less than one per cent of the total number of consumers. North Bengal Development Department chairman Amar Singh Rai has recently written to the West Bengal Chief Minister, focusing on the issue of people being harassed and facing various problems due to pending electricity bill. 

 Amar Singh Rai says he has written to the Chief Minister about the problem faced by the people due to pending electricity bill from the agitation period but he has not received any reply so far. However, he says he is working towards solving people's problems in this regard. He has a plan to meet the Chief Minister and inform her about the issue. 

GJM Bimal camp general secretary Roshan Giri says that GJM would work towards resolving the problems faced by the people due to the pending electricity bill during the period of Gorkhaland movement. 

Observers point out, however, that one obstacle in the way of the Mamata Banerjee government writing off the pending amount could be that the pending bills are a legacy of the previous Left Front government.