Journalism of Courage
To end the deadlock over charges levied by the Pune Municipal Corporation (PMC) — on the Maharashtra State Electricity Development Corporation Ltd (MSEDCL) for digging up roads to lay power utility cables — the MSEDCL has proposed to reinstate the road on its own. In turn, the civic body is going to return the deposit amount to the power utility once it is convinced that the road repair work has been satisfactorily completed.
PMC authorities have supported the proposal and sought the Standing Committee’s permission to take it forward. Usually, the MSEDCL lays underground power cables in the city through the open trenching method, while the PMC reinstates the road that has been dug up for laying cables. The PMC charges Rs 2,350 per metre for allowing digging of roads to lay power utility cables, and uses the amount to reinstate the road.
Earlier, the MSEDCL refused to pay the charges levied by the PMC, claiming they were too high. However, the civic body has refused to lower the rates.
To find a way out, the MSEDCL has decided to replicate the model adopted by the Nagpur Municipal Corporation. “The MSEDCL and Nagpur Municipal Corporation have an agreement, wherein the MSEDCL does the road reinstating work on its own, instead of paying charges to civic body. The charges are submitted as a deposit to the civic body, and are recovered later, after the road reinstating work is completed as per the satisfaction of the civic body,” stated the MSEDCL proposal.
As part of the Integrated Power Development Scheme and Infra 2 scheme, the MSEDCL has undertaken laying of underground power cables to replace 200-225 km of overhead cables. The PMC gives permission for digging of roads till April 30, but the MSEDCL wants permission till May 31 so that it can carry out the work till June 30.
PMC Municipal Commissioner Kunal Kumar has now sought the approval of the Standing Committee, so that the civic body can sign an agreement with the MSEDCL, to allow the power utility company to reinstate the dug-up road. The PMC has urged the MSEDCL to deposit 11 per cent of the charges as supervision charges. The warranty period for the road reinstatement would be two years and the PMC would have a Standard Operating Procedure (SoP) for the purpose.
