Residents of around 2,000 homes in Ghaziabad’s Kanawani floodplain may finally receive electricity connections after the Uttar Pradesh government agreed to allow temporary regular connections in houses built in the Yamuna-Hindon floodplain areas. The decision could affect more than 10,000 people who have faced unreliable and unauthorised power arrangements for nearly 12 years.
Local officials of the electricity corporation said the connection process can begin only after formal instructions are received. Until then, no official schedule has been issued for starting the work in Kanawani. The reported decision does not remove the restrictions on construction in the floodplain, and the existing electricity infrastructure will have to be assessed and expanded before new connections can be provided.
No new electricity connections have been issued in the Kanawani floodplain for about 12 years. During this period, the electricity corporation did not install new poles, lines, substations or transformers because construction in the area was prohibited. At the time the restrictions were enforced, the locality had around 250 valid electricity connections and only one transformer.
Construction nevertheless continued in the area, according to the report. Residents of newly built homes began drawing informal connections from houses that already had legal electricity supplies. Some transformers were also reportedly installed without authorisation. The available capacity has been insufficient to provide stable voltage or supply for the scheduled duration, while faults are frequent. The one officially installed transformer also breaks down repeatedly, leaving residents with recurring interruptions.
The power shortage has led residents to hold repeated protests. Last month, people blocked a road after alleging that valid electricity connections in the area had been disconnected. The reported government-level approval has now raised expectations among residents that a formal and more dependable system can be created. They have asked that connections be issued quickly to address a problem that has continued for more than a decade.
Providing electricity connections will require more than processing individual applications. The area will need new high-tension and low-tension lines, additional poles and transformers based on demand. Electricity corporation officials said a plan would be prepared after the formal instructions arrive, and that this planning process could take two to three months.
Residents have already begun applying through the electricity corporation’s Jhatpat portal. More than 400 applications had been submitted over the previous two weeks, following the start of the connection process in similar areas of Noida. However, applications in Kanawani have not yet moved into the connection stage. The next formal step is the issuance of government instructions, after which officials are expected to prepare the local electricity network plan.
