Citing civil suit, Mescom denies Belaku Scheme power connection to BPL family in Kundapura

When Mescom personnel arrived to provide connection to the house of the BPL family, a neighbour had objected, as the cable passes over his house. The neighbour has moved court.

Even after 75 years of Independence, a BPL family in Sowkur village in Kundapura taluk of Udupi district in Karnataka is unable to get an electricity connection though an electricity pole was located next to their house, solely because of Mescom apathy, claims Human Rights Protection Foundation, Udupi and Consumer Forum, Basrur.

Foundation and Forum president Ravindranath Shanbhog told reporters in Udupi on August 8 that Malathi and Ganesh Devadiga, who were working in Mumbai, returned to Sowkur in 2019 to stay in Ms. Malathi’s maternal house. Her mother, Subbamma, lived without electricity for over 50 years because of poverty and died in 2010.

Mr. Ganesh and Ms. Malathi’s family was chosen as a beneficiary under the Belaku Scheme of the Karnataka government in 2019, and they got the internal wiring done in their house. When Mangalore Electricity Supply Company (MESCOM) personnel arrived to provide connection, neighbour Vasudeva Devadiga objected, as the cable passes over his house.

In April 2020, the then Udupi Deputy Commissioner M. Kurma Rao dismissed Vasudeva Devadiga’s objections under Section 164 of the Indian Electricity Act, 2003. Vasudeva Devadiga’s interlocutory applications in a suit for permanent injunction against trespassing on his property were dismissed by the Junior Civil Judge on July 16, 2022, and later the Senior Civil Judge at Kundapura on October 14, 2022.

The Senior CJ even castigated Vasudeva Devadiga for approaching a civil court against an order passed by the DC under the Telegraph/Electricity Act, and said he should have approached the appropriate government authorities.

Yet, Mescom has not provided the electricity connection to Ms. Malathi, Dr. Shanbhog said.

When The Hindu asked the reasons for not providing connection despite court orders, Mescom Assistant Executive Engineer Harish cited the court case on the files of the CJ junior division, Kundapura. Asked whether the court had given permanent injunction against providing connection, his answer was negative.