Pay BEST its pending power bills: Civic chief

As Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport (BEST) is battling losses and asking the civic body for help, civic chief Ajoy Mehta has asked all departments to pay pending electricity bills to it.

Brihanmumbai Municipal Corporation (BMC) owes Rs11.38 crore to BEST in electricity bills. BEST has been asking the civic body for financial help for some time now.

The BEST administration had requested the civic body to create a permanent fund to help it every year.

Congress corporator Ravi Raja had asked BEST to recover all pending bills from all government agencies before seeking help.

The civic chief has asked all departments to pay the electricity bills at the earliest, to help BEST cope with its losses.

The Centre owes BEST Rs 3.12 crore and state owes Rs23.87 crore, respectively.

Last month, Mayor Vishwanath Mahadeshwar had called a meeting with all party leaders, municipal commissioner Ajoy Mehta and Brihanmumbai Electricity Supply and Transport general manager to discuss the financial crisis and ways to tackle it.

It came up that 70 different offices across 24 wards in the city had not paid electricity bills for years.

The BEST’S pending loans are part of the total amount of Rs 1 600 crore given by the BMC to