The Chennai airport authorities have been slapped with a notice by the Tamil Nadu Generation and Distribution Corporation (TANGEDCO) for a case of power theft.
The TANGEDCO has also imposed a penalty of Rs. 22.04 lakh.
A notice issued by the TANGEDCO's Executive Engineer (Operation and Maintenance), Tambaram, on May 4 referred to the inspection carried out at 5-30 p.m. on May 3. It stated that “it was found that an offence of theft of energy has been committed by using the supply for the purpose other than for which the usage of electricity was authorised as it is used for construction of commercial multiplex for M/s CCCL Constructions. By committing the said offence, you have dishonestly abstracted, consumed and used energy with the intention to defraud the licensee. The above said illegal abstraction, consumption and use of energy is punishable under the section 135 (E) of the Electricity Act.”
The EB authorities said the Airports Authority of India had obtained a few temporary connections for the ongoing expansion project. The power theft was detected at the Air Cargo Complex at Meenambakkam, where modernisation work is in progress.
When contacted, S. Bhaduri, Executive Director (Project), who is holding additional charge as airport director, said he explained to TANGEDCO officials about the power consumption.
