THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Kerala state electricity board (KSEB) Ltd has proposed to waive off six months' electricity charges of flood-affected BPL category consumers. The board made the proposal in its tariff petition submitted to the power regulator recently. The board had made arrangements for the deferred payment of electricity bills in areas that were severely affected in the floods.The move to write off the power bills is being mooted as a humane gesture towards the economically-weak. The board has already given time up to December for flood-hit homes, irrespective of their financial standing or their volume of consumption, for paying the power bills."We have not yet assessed the volume of financial liability the decision would bring to the board. Anyway, the board sees it as a necessary help for the most needy people among the survivors of the flood of a life time," a senior official associated with the preparation of the tariff petition said.Of the close to 97 lakh consumers, only 0.24%, ie, a little over 23,000 consumers come under BPL category. For this group, KSEB provides power at a heavily subsidised rate of Rs 1.5 per unit.The board has also proposed to the power regulatory commission that it was ready to give concession in power bills to consumers suffering from cancer or permanently disabled owing to diseases or road accidents.The board has put Rs 15,830.57 crore as the aggregate revenue requirement for 2020-21. This would further increase the revenue gap of the board by Rs 711.25 crore. The flood related damages, as per the initial statistics of the board was estimated at Rs 351.59 crore."Five major generating stations and 10 small hydel stations were severely affected. Fifty substations in 10 districts had to be switched off for safety reasons. As many 10 power transformers submerged in water. Transmission towers toppled and 10 major transmission lines were disrupted," the board said in the petition.

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