No power, yet pay electricity bills.

This seems to be the fate of tribal villagers in Jharkhand’s four hamlets of Kashiapecha village under Chotta Nagra police station area in the dense Saranda forest of West Singhbhum district, around 190 km from state capital Ranchi.

Kasiapecha village head Singa Soren said that there are over 125 houses in the four hamlets of Pentotola, Mundatola, Kuntuburutola and Baisautola in the forest terrain.

“Electricity came to our village in 2016 but due to some or other reasons, electricity supply got disrupted barely a month after. There were some technical snags in the transformer or at some locations electricity wires got uprooted and were not repaired as state electricity department officials seldom come to the villages due to lack of proper roads.

“Since the area falls in Maoist affected zone nobody visits us,” said Singa Soren in his early 50s.

However, there was one staff of the electricity department who regularly came to the villages.

“A staff from Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam Limited who identified himself as Basu comes in the last week of every month and notes down reading from our meter and hands over the electricity bills.

“When we express our anger at getting the bills without any power supply, the staff merely apologies and requests us to meet the senior officials,” said Mangta Soren, a village youth.

The village youth claimed that each of the households have accrued bills to the tune of nearly Rs 9,000.

“These had been continuing for last several years. On average, each household gets a bill exceeding Rs 150 and now we are being asked to pay an unpaid amount of over Rs 9,000. We had raised our issues with the electricity department officials at Manoharpur but to no avail,” said Mangta Soren.

The only solace is the solar-powered lights installed by the state government.

“We recharge our mobile phones and also do our daily chores using the lights from the solar battery-powered lights.

“However, there is no electricity. We are not going to pay the bills come what may,” threatened Mangta Soren.

JBVNL assistant engineer at Manoharpur, Kafil Ansari, expressed ignorance about the plight of the villagers.

“I am not aware of such plight of the villagers. I am going to send a team to the villages and arrange for augmentation of power supply to the village.

“If they do not have electricity they need not pay bills. We will check the issue,” said Ansari.