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Independent Lens

Powerless: Crackdown on Katiya

In this excerpt from the Independent Lens documentary Powerless, Ritu Maheshwari, the newly appointed head of the Kanpur, India power company, takes a tough stance against electricity thieves. This leads to a police crackdown as they sweep the city looking for “katiya,” which are jerry-rigged electrical connections, even though many who’ve used them are in desperate situations.

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