The existence of thousands of unauthorised electricity connections in the Hindon river floodplain areas under Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar has brought a larger policy dilemma for Uttar Pradesh into sharp focus: whether to continue denying power connections to illegal settlements or provide regulated power supply to people who have continued to live there despite a strict construction ban.
The issue was flagged before chief minister Yogi Adityanath during a high-level meeting last week, with Chhijarsi village, which has illegal power connections in Gautam Buddh Nagar emerging as a particular concern. The review pointed to unauthorised connections used by residents in the villages within the declared floodplain areas and alleged syndicates operating parallel power supply networks and recovering the cost of power from the dwellers. The proposal was deliberately designed not to cover legitimacy on the settlements. Power connections were to be temporary and prepaid, with armoured cables. Residents would also have to undertake to vacate the premises whenever ordered by authorities or courts and the discom could disconnect supply if demolition action was initiated.
Singh said he was not aware of the UP Power Corporation Ltd’s (UPPCL) 2024 proposal to legally give temporary power connections in the floodplain areas but felt such a proposal was called for.
The CM, it is said, expressed displeasure at the situation and directed officials to take appropriate steps to plug the theft of electricity there. Consumers, according to the proposal, were to bear the cost of electrical infrastructure while the connection would carry no ownership or occupancy right.
The proposal, however, runs into a long-standing government policy. Yet, illegal settlements in the Hindon floodplain areas of Ghaziabad and Gautam Buddh Nagar have continued to exist and expand. A March 16, 2010 government order issued by the irrigation department and circulated by the chief secretary Atul Kumar Gupta to the department concerned for strict compliance had directed authorities to prevent illegal construction and encroachment in the floodplains. According to officials even farmhouses and show rooms had come up in these areas and residents were availing of most government services including ration cards despite the 2010 order.
It specifically said that illegal constructions and encroachers should not be provided government facilities including electricity, water and ration cards. The central question for the government, according to the official now, is whether it should continue treating these settlements purely as illegal encroachments and deny them formal utilities or acknowledge the ground reality.
