Bescom high-handedness puts 80-yr-old’s life at risk

Pulls the plug for the whole apartment complex after a tenant defaults.

Y. Maheswara Reddy | NT

Bengaluru: An 80-year-old criticallyill asthmatic patient’s life was at risk on Thursday due to high-handedness of a Bengaluru Electricity Supply Company (Bescom) assistant engineer. Her daughter- in-law’s pleas to restore electricity fell on deaf ears.

“My mother-in-law has been bed-ridden for many years. She, being an asthmatic, needs oxygen support. We have a UPS backup battery that lasts for only two hours. I pleaded with the Bescom engineer to restore power, but he ignored my pleas. He restored the supply only after three hours,’’ said Sangeetha G, a resident of Sai Elite Apartments at Basavanapura near Gottigere.

She said that she wanted to shift her mother-in-law to her relatives’ house to ensure uninterrupted oxygen supply, but could not do so. “I took the help of eight people to shift into an ambulance to take her to a hospital for treatment a few months ago. On Thursday, I was praying to God for the restoration of the electricity supply. No one should undergo trauma like me,” she said.

The Sai Elite Apartment complex accommodates 27 families and four shops. It is learnt that one of the shop owners defaulted on the electricity bill and did not pay up despite repeated reminders from the Bescom authorities. “I came to know about Bescom staff disconnecting electricity to the whole apartment complex instead of disconnecting electricity supply to the particular shop. I volunteered to pay the bill, but the Bescom staff was adamant. They took more than three hours to restore electricity to the apartment complex,” said Manjunath.

Around 50 students at the apartment complex were also put to hardship as they could not attend online classes. “I had online classes from 10 am to 3.45 pm. I could not attend the classes between 12.30 pm and 3.30 pm due to the disconnection of electricity supply to my home,’’ said Praveen R, a BCA student. The residents have expressed displeasure over the apathetic attitude of the Bescom staff. They want the Bescom authorities to penalize or punish those who defaulted in the payment of electricity bills.

Meanwhile, Bescom assistant executive engineer has said that he has reprimanded assistant engineer for disconnecting electricity supply to the entire apartment complex instead of a particular shop. “After coming to know about the incident, I directed the assistant engineer to restore electricity to the apartment complex immediately. I have asked him not to repeat it in future,” the Bescom assistant executive engineer said.