Chennai: The state govt has exempted people living on poromboke land from getting a no-objection certificate (NOC) from govt departments to get an electricity connection. However, they must fulfil certain criteria, including the house size, payment of necessary charges as well as an undertaking that they are aware they could be evicted at any time.
This has been done away now as there is a huge pendency of such applications,” said an official. Also, the houses built on permitted poromboke lands should not exceed 250sqft in built-up area. “Until now, these houses needed an NOC from the authority concerned for getting power supply. In the written undertaking, the applicant should state that the new electricity service does not confer any right on the land on which they have built the house and that they are liable to be evicted and to have power supply disconnected if the govt requires the land.
These connections will be classified as a separate consumer category — low tension – 1A (3) — to distinguish them from the regular domestic category, though they would be charged the same tariff as the domestic category (LT-1A). “The billing software is being updated to accommodate such services, and the information technology team is working on processing such applications online. These connections require double the security deposit. Other charges for this consumer category are also being worked out,” added the official.