Mamata calls for steps to bring down ATC loss below 10 percent
Kolkata: Chief Minister Mamata Banerjee has called for necessary steps to bring down the Aggregate Technical and Commercial (ATC) loss, that the state Power department incurs, to below 10 percent.
The Chief Minister held a review meeting to take stock of the power sector in the state. Sobhandeb Chattopadhyay, the state Power minister, along with senior officials of the department, was present in the meeting.
Banerjee has also set up a committee headed by Chief Secretary Malay De. The committee will look into the steps needed to be taken to bring down the ATC loss. It will be holding review meetings every month. At present, the ATC loss stands at 28 percent and the Chief Minister has directed to bring it below 10 percent. Sources said that the Chief Minister had discussed about the issue in details with the state Power minister and the concerned officials in Thursday's meeting.
Sources said it has been clearly stated that it will be the responsibility of the department to make up the loss. The Chief Minister will also be holding review meetings in this connection every two to three months.
Soon after getting the direction of the Chief Minister, the officials of the department have started taking necessary steps to check ATC loss.
It may be recalled that the state Power department has initiated steps to check power theft, by using aerial bunched (AB) cable for overhead wiring. Hundred places have been identified where AB cable will be used.
It will help in checking ATC loss and the quality of power supply will also get improved. Steps have also been taken for underground laying of cables and it has already been implemented in Nabadwip and Bolpur. The same will be carried out in many other cities.
Till March, the total number of commercial consumers was 15.93 lakh. It was 8.88 lakh in 2011. The number of consumers for agricultural purpose has increased to 2.86 lakh, which was 1.44 lakh in 2011.The number of industrial consumers was 1 lakh which was 78,074 till March 2011.
