Aurangabad: The proposed work of laying an underground power cable network in the city continues to get delayed as the civic body and the Maharashtra State Electricity Distribution Company Ltd (MSEDCL) have failed to arrive at a mutually acceptable solution.The issue is expected to again raise heat during the monthly meeting of the district electrification committee, which is scheduled for Wednesday.The stalemate over the digging charges has continued over the past one month despite a few rounds of meetings between the officials of both the stakeholders.While the Aurangabad Municipal Corporation (AMC) has demanded Rs 2,500 per meter as charges for digging the roads, the MSEDCL is arguing that the overall digging charges would be far more than the actual infrastructure cost.The laying of power cables and other important works are being executed under the Integrated Power Development Scheme (IPDS), a special initiative by the Centre that aims to strengthen the electricity network in urban areas."We have again brought to the notice of the AMC that it (digging charges) is not feasible for us. No doubt the delay in execution of IPDS would have its own implications, but we cannot give in to the demand of the civic body," Suresh Ganeshkar, chief engineer of MSEDCL, Aurangabad circle, said on Tuesday.What could be termed as a last resort, the newly established division-level office of MSEDCL, led by Omprakash Bakoria, recently established correspondence with the AMC over the issue."Earlier, we had quoted Rs 1,600 per meter of cable towards digging charges. We could have discussed the proposal but the civic body is unresponsive," an official of the MSEDCL said.When contacted, the AMC officials said they have already faced a lot of public anger over the quality of roads in the recent past."It was none other than the chief minister himself who commented on the state of city's roads and subsequently released funds for their repairs and construction," said a senior civic official."While the quality of roads has improved just recently, the MSEDCL is seeking permission to dig them again. We have no objection to their work, but digging charges have to be paid so as to restore the roads to their earlier condition," the official said."The MSEDCL has to anyway wait for some weeks as the digging work is usually avoided during the monsoon."The state power utility was also considering the option of repairing the roads post digging on its own and paying only about 5% supervision charges to the civic body. The proposal, however, has been put on the back-burner.As announced earlier by the MSEDCL authorities, high voltage power cable of around 15km length and low voltage cable of nearly 419km would be laid underground as a part of the action plan for Smart City project.The work of laying of power cables assumes significance considering the overhead high-tension and low-tension electricity cables that dangerously hang low in many areas, especially in the old city limits.

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