Berhampur: As many as 3 lakh houses in south Odisha are reeling under darkness even as the Centre makes tall claims of electrifying all villages in the country. The villages remain deprived of power even seven decades after independence.
Sources said over 3, 04,435 households in eight districts of south Odisha do not have power supply to their houses by October 10, 2017. The Centre’s announcement of electrifying all villages has come as a rude shock for those still reeling under darkness.
The government’s claim is it has supplied power to every village in the country under Rajiv Gandhi Gramin Vidyutikaran Yojana and the Deen Dayal Upadhyaya Gram Jyoti Yojana. However, the reality is different even though wires have been drawn in many villages and utility poles and transformers installed, supply is yet to be given.
The problem is acute in Ganjam and Koraput districts. In Ganjam, 1,00,187 households do not get power supply. Similarly, 62,291 households in 1992 villages in Koraput reel under darkness.
The power supply scenario is no better in Nabarangpur district where 53,825 houses in 894 villages do not have power supply. The picture in the remaining districts is of equally bad.
Power distribution company Southco looks after supply in eight districts like Ganjam, Gajapati, Raygada, Koraput, Phulbani, Kandhmal, Nabarangpur and Malkangiri in the south Odisha. The eight districts have 15,681 villages. Most of the villages are in the midst of hills and forests and are still deprived of supply. Remoteness of villages and the prevailing Maoist fear have posed a serious threat in electrifying these villages.
The power supply under these two schemes has reached the villages but the houses are yet to be connected. The Centre launched the Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana or Soubhagya where the Centre will provide 60 per cent of funds while the rest 40 per cent will be borne by the state.
The Southco authoritiy in their bid to implement the new scheme has prepared a plan outlay of Rs 693.90 crore out of which the government has sanctioned Rs 15.76 crore. The Southco after receiving the funds is making all-out efforts to electrify the villages.
Over 61, 930 households in these eight districts have been connected with power supply by May 14 after launch of the Soubhagya scheme but still 3,00,435 households remain to be connected.
When contacted, Southco general manager PK Choudhury said electrification in the left-out villages is being carried out on a war-footing and will be finished much before December deadline as fixed by the Centre and October 2, Gandhi Jayanti as fixed by the state.