: The Madhyanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Limited (MVVNL) intensified its drive against power theft and revenue defaulters on Wednesday, disconnecting illegal connections and initiating criminal proceedings against consumers found tampering with meters or bypassing them.
During the operation, teams checked 84 electricity connections and detected 15 cases of meter bypass and power theft. FIRs were registered against the 15 consumers under Section 135 of the Electricity Act, 2003. The detected cases involved connected loads ranging from about 2 kW to 4.04 kW, indicating that the drive covered both individual households and consumers drawing relatively higher loads.
Several of the cases were detected in PM Awas Yojana housing in Sector I in Dubagga, while others were reported from Duggauli under Kakori police station. In another enforcement operation in the Victoria area of central Lucknow, four consumers were reportedly caught stealing electricity during a morning raid. Departmental action is being initiated against them.
Bhagia said power connections of major defaulters and consumers involved in theft will remain disconnected unless they clear their dues as part of the drive, while police complaints were being filed as per law, wherever theft was detected.
