New Delhi, Sep 27 : To cater to the demands of the upcoming festival season without adding to Delhi's high pollution levels, two power distribution companies (discoms) in the national capital -- BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd and BSES Yamuna Power Ltd -- will provide temporary "Tatkal", or immediate, electricity connections for both community and private festivities, BSES said on Thursday.
In a statement here, the discom said that getting the "same day" electricity connections is not only a "hassle free" process, but also a cheaper, safer, noise and pollution free alternative to polluting diesel gensets, for instance.
"BSES Rajdhani Power Ltd (BRPL) and BSES Yamuna Power Ltd (BYPL) will provide 'Tatkal' electricity connections for pujas, pandals marriages and even construction activities," a BSES statement said.
"Under the innovative scheme, a consumer will be able to get a temporary connection the same day of applying and completing the commercial formalities. Usually, it can take between three-five days to get a temporary connection," it said.
According to BSES, to get a "tatkal" temporary electricity connection, a consumer has to contact its call centre numbers 19123/ 39999707 (BRPL) and 19122/ 39999808 (BYPL), or visit the customer care centre at the division office and complete simple formalities. They can also apply online and make payment for the temporary connection on the company website www.bsesdelhi.com and from the BSES mobile app.
"The entire BSES machinery is geared up to make 'same day' connections possible," the statement said.
BSES also cautioned that incidences of power theft increase during the festival season.
"BSES' teams will be on high alert to catch such transgressions. Consumers are requested to take legal 'temporary' connections for all their celebrations," the discom said.
The BSES sister discoms will be relying heavily on analytics to catch power thieves, it added.
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Bengaluru (PTI): Karnataka Legislative Council Chairman Basavaraj Horatti on Tuesday briefly adjourned the House, expressing displeasure over the absence of Ministers and ruling party members post lunch break.
The development comes a day after Assembly Speaker U T Khader adjourned the House and walked out in protest, over the lack of written replies from government departments to questions raised by MLAs.
The "unprecedented" move by the Speaker had caused huge embarrassment to the Congress government, forcing the Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to issue directives to Ministers and bureaucrats, including suspending errant officials.
When the council resumed after lunch, Leader of Opposition Chalavadi Narayanaswamy pointed toward the empty treasury benches and suggested that ruling party members seemed to have "boycotted" the proceedings.
Only Minister of School Education and Literacy Madhu Bangarappa and Chief Whip Saleem Ahmed were in attendance.
The Chairman asked, "Ministers are not here; what should I do?"
Raising objection to empty treasury benches, Opposition Chief Whip N Ravikumar said, "If we have to speak on any issues, who should we tell? Who is there among Ministers? Where is the government?"
Following this, Horatti adjourned the House for 10 minutes.
When the House resumed, a couple of Ministers -- Ramalinga Reddy, Santosh Lad arrived, but the treasury benches by and large remained sparse as most of the ruling Congress MLCs were absent.
The Chairman asked the Chief Whip Saleem Ahmed, "If there are no members and Ministers on the treasury bench side, what is it? How should the House be run? If you don't want, I will adjourn the House for tomorrow. What other work is there during the session? If there are no members and the seats are empty, how can the House run?"
When Horatti asked the Chief Whip about the MLCs, Ahmed replied, "They will be coming."
Pointing out that MLCs were not present, despite the House resuming late post lunch, the Chairman said, "What should we do? Shall I adjourn the House for tomorrow? What do you mean that they will be coming? I don't like it."
Ravikumar attacked the ruling Congress, asking, "Before whom should we raise the issues?"
When the Chairman expressed his willingness to adjourn the House till Wednesday morning, Ravikumar said the opposition BJP was ready to participate in the proceedings, provided the treasury benches show equal cooperation.
Defending the ruling party members, Congress MLC Ramesh Babu said there was some delay in the return of his party colleagues, who had gone for lunch.
As a couple of Ministers and ruling party MLCs started trickling in, the Chairman called BJP MLC A H Vishwanth to speak on the Budget.
