Kolkata: The West Bengal State Electricity Distribution Company Limited (WBSEDCL) is set to give more than 21,000 Kali Puja connections this year. In 2021, it had given around 19,889 connections.
State Power minister Aroop Biswas on Friday appealed to the Puja organisers not to indulge in unfair means. The minister pointed out that if any Puja pandal is involved in power tapping, it might trigger a major incident and the transformer may get damaged. "State government is providing a 60 per cent discount on Puja connections. We, therefore, urge the committees not to indulge in illegal means which can burn down the transformer," Biswas said.
The minister also maintained that action is being taken against 3,689 Durga Puja pandals that were involved in power hooking or tapping.
On the eve of Kali Puja last year, the state saw a demand of 6,875 MW power but this year the demand may go up to 7,000 MW. The department is ready to meet the demand, stated the minister. He also added that WBSEDCL this year, gave connections to 44,478 pandals for Durga Puja whereas in 2021 it had given 40,124 Durga Puja connections. Bengal has seen an increase in connection by 112 per cent in the past 10 years. In 2011, around 20,970 Puja connections were given. Power demand in 2011
had been recorded at 210 MW whereas in 2021 the
demand remained at around 805 MW, marking an increase of 305 per cent.
The CESC had given around 4,879 Kali Puja connections last year while this year, the number may go up to 5,046. The minister said that Power department employees ensured any incident-free Durga Puja this year and they are also committed to do the same during Kali Puja.