Bihar: Electricity department sends pending bill worth Rs 1 lakh to martyrs' memorial

The notice, directly addressed to the martyrs who fought for the country and died while doing so, has been taken as an insult to the great men by some locals.

Muzaffarpur (Bihar):The North Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited sent a pending electricity bill worth Rs 1 lakh 36 thousand to the memorial of martyrs Khudiram Bose and Praful Chand Chaki in Muzaffarpur's Company Bagh on Tuesday. The notice, addressed directly to the martyrs, gives them a week's time to pay the pending bill. It says that the electricity supply to the memorial will be disconnected if the bills are not paid in due time.

The memorial falls under the area where electricity connection is provided by the North Bihar Power Distribution Company. The agency taking care of this monument had not paid the electricity bill for several months, piling up the bill to Rs 1 lakh 36 thousand 943 in total. The Sub-Divisonal Magistrate has taken cognisance of the matter and pulled the necessary strings to get the issue resolved.

“The matter has come to our notice. Sahara is responsible for the maintenance of Khudiram Bose Memorial Park. Since the bill is generated by computer software, Khudiram Bose's name went into it. I have talked to the executive of the electricity department. He has reassured that adequate action will be taken after the needed investigation,” Gyan Prakash, SDM of East Muzaffarpur said.

The notice, directly addressed to the martyrs who fought for the country and died while doing so, has been taken as an insult to the great men by some locals. Enraged at such behaviour, the locals have said that they will come down on the streets to protest if the corporation cuts off the electricity to the said memorial.

The memorial was built to mark the occasion when Shaheed Khudiram Bose and Praful Chand Chaki were hanged to death by the British when they tried to kill the then Kingsford by throwing a bomb on his wagon. They were hanged on August 11, 1908. Decades later, Muzaffarpur's Company Bagh had taken the initiative to build the memorial and was supposed to look after it, including the payment of bills. It was inaugurated by the then Chief Minister Shri Krishna Singh.