Mandrem local gets ‘shock of his life’ with electricity bill of Rs 57 lakhs

It would not be wrong to say that, unlike God, the government departments of the state tend to function in a way best known to them. A local from Mandrem village of Pernem taluka got the shock of his life after he was tendered an electricity bill of Rs 57,36,285.

Keshav Mandrekar, a resident of Mandrem, received an electricity bill of a whopping Rs 57 lakhs. He told reporters that he was shocked to see the seven-digit bill amount. “How could I receive such a high amount?” he questioned.

He further said that to make inquiries about this blunder, he went to the Agarwada electricity office. The office staff told him that the problem may have occurred due to a faulty electricity metre.

Mandrekar also mentioned that sensing that the matter would not reach a positive resolution, he sent the image of this bill to the OSD of the chief minister. On Friday, a metre reader came to his residence and took a copy of the bill. He added that he expects that in the near future such mistakes will not be repeated. The agency that does the billing should be blacklisted by the department.

It may be recalled that a few months ago, villagers from Quepem, Shirvoi and Sanvordem in South Goa received exorbitant electricity bills. People at that time had expressed extreme displeasure over the lackadaisical approach of the public servants who make such mistakes.