UP: No electricity since 2009, complain Bikanpur villagers

Moradabad (Uttar Pradesh) [India], May 20 (ANI): Residents of Bikanpur village complained of being forced to live in darkness for the last nine years despite electricity poles, transmission wires being present in the village since decades. Most of the houses even have electronic meters installed.
"There is no electricity in the village since 2010, it used to come for a short while for 2-3 years before that. Linesman comes but nothing gets done. We just have a connection now with no electricity but every month the bill comes and we have to deposit the bill," a villager Pankaj Kumar Singh told ANI.
Other villagers too said that they had filed complaints but no action was taken by the concerned authorities.
Frustrated with the situation, the villagers now dry their clothes on the transmission wires.
Bikanpur village comes under the Mundha Pande block which falls in the Moradabad district and is located just 15 kilometres away from the main town.
Sanjay Garg, the Senior Engineer in Pashchimanchal Vidyut Vitran Nigam Ltd. (PVVNL) denied having any knowledge of the problem persisting since years. He said it is most likely a recent problem and assured that the electricity supply will be resumed within two to three days.
"The plight of Bikanpur village came to our notice in the last three days, it is possible to supply electricity here from a nearby substation. I don't think the matter has been unresolved since 2009. Rains, thunderstorms might have broken down the connection a few days back. I have sent the SDO and engineers to find out where the fault is and assure the people that the electricity supply will be resumed within 48 hours," Garg said. (ANI)