Power cut in village over unpaid bills

MIDNAPORE: In June 2004, the village of Amlashole in West Bengal’s West Midnapore district grabbed national headlines after five tribals allegedly died of starvation there.

The government rushed supplies and tried to improve the villagers’ lives. When Mamata Banerjee came to power in 2011, she made the village her showcase project — constructing roads, providing water supply and electricity, and subsidised ration.

But despite the spotlight, HT has found that the tribal-dominated village has been living in darkness with no electricity for more than two months, because the sole transformer was struck by lightning and has not been repaired, or replaced, since.

The reason: Most of the consumers live in abject poverty and can’t afford to pay pending electricity bills.

Amlashole lies near the Bengal-Jharkhand border at the heart of Jangalmahal that was once dominated by Maoists. Power to Amlashole is supplied through a transformer located at Kendgara Para. Incidentally, the village is inhabited by tribals such as the Mundas and Sabars, who are not only poor but also socially marginalised .

During British rule, the Sabars were even categorised as a ‘criminal tribe’ under the Criminal Tribes Act 1871.

“We are poor people who earn our daily bread with meagre wages. How will we pay electricity bills? The CM is giving a lot of things to Jangalmahal, including rice at ₹2 a kg, she can give free electricity to us also,” said Madan Sabar, a villager.

According to officials in West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company, there are about 2 lakh consumers in Jhargram of whom more than 1.5 lakh have not paid their bills for several years.

The dues have run up to almost ₹100 crore, the board said.

Officers of the power utility said residents of Amlashole have not paid up even after they were told to pay the due in 24 instalments.

Their bills from November 2008 till July 2014 were waived after intervention by Banerjee.