• Investment World
• eWorld
• Brand Line
• Mentor
• Life
• Brand Quest
• The New Manager
• BL Club
• Smartbuy
• Books
• Gallery

Stocks

• Quotes
• SE Diary
• Scoreboard
• Open-End Mutual Fund

Cross Currency

• Rates
  
  

Shipping

• Ports
  
  

Archives

• Yesterday
• Datewise
• Resources
• In Focus
• In Depth
• Events 2007

Group Sites

• The Hindu
• The Hindu ePaper
• Business Line
• Business Line ePaper
• Sportstar
• Frontline
• The Hindu eBooks
• The Hindu Images

Our Bureau

Thiruvananthapuram, July 15

The Kerala State Electricity Board (KSEB) has detected a major power theft racket involving the houseboats operating in Vembanad lake in Kuttanad.

The Kuttanad region spanning Alappuzha and Kottayam districts has nearly 300 houseboats operating in the lake. The anti-power theft squads of the board found out on Tuesday night that four boats were tapping power from the electricity lines drawn over the bunds for lighting and air-conditioning.

The board said in a release on Wednesday that it had booked criminal cases against the owners of these houseboats, besides imposing a penalty of Rs 12 lakh on them for the damages caused by their action.

The release said that the board had received information that several other houseboats were also indulging in power theft by using hooks and wires to latch on the overhead lines. It is, however, difficult to catch them red-handed since the region is far spread out and the boat operators can see any approaching official boat from kilometres away, said the release.

More Stories on : Power | Economic Offences | Tourism | Kerala

Article E-Mail :: Comment :: Syndication :: Printer Friendly Page

Copyright © 2009, The Hindu Business Line. Republication or redissemination of the contents of this screen are expressly prohibited without the written consent of The Hindu Business Line