City to stay powerless till May 12

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Bhubaneswar: After drawing flak from various quarters, the state government Wednesday claimed that power will be “fully restored in the Capital city Bhubaneswar by May 12.”
Briefing reporters about the post-cyclone restoration work, Information and Public Relations Secretary Sanjay Singh said, “About 80 per cent consumers in the city will get power supply by May 10 and all parts of the city will get the supplies by May 12.”
Of the 46 power feeders (33 KV) under BCDD-I division of Bhubaneswar, 14 have been made functional while 20 others will be charged by Wednesday night. In BCDD-II division, four out of 66 feeders have been charged while 16 others 16 will be made functional by Wednesday night, he said.
Similarly, six out of 37 power feeders in Bhubaneswar Electrical Division have been made operational and eight others feeders will be charged immediately, Singh said.
However, the Secretary could not provide details of the areas likely to get electricity restored and how many areas of the city may get power supply by Thursday.
Stating that power infrastructure in Puri district has been badly disrupted due to Fani, he said, “Power supply to Puri Grand Road will be restored by May 12. Afterwards it will be extended to the town in a phased manner. It will take about a month to cover all places in the district.”
In order to expedite power restoration work, the state has decided to rope in 5,000 skilled workers from neighbouring Andhra, Telangana and West Bengal.
Speaking to reporters after a review meeting with Union Cabinet Secretary PK Sinha over video conferencing, Chief Secretary Aditya Prasad Padhi said mobile connectivity and restoration of power supply are accorded top priority by the state government.
“We are primarily emphasizing on two things – mobile connectivity and electricity – since these are the two factors hampering relief works in the cyclone-hit areas. We have decided to requisition 5000 skilled workers from Andhra, Telangana and West Bengal,” Padhi told reporters. He hoped 80 per cent power connections would be restored by May 10.
Electricity utility poles are being procured from the Durgapur SAIL factory, he said while adding that the logistics issues no longer pose a challenge as railway services have already resumed.
The Telangana government Tuesday deputed 1,000 employees of its electricity department to Odisha while Andhra Pradesh government has sent 2,055 workers to the state.
Besides, the government has decided to engage ITI and diploma students for verification of service connections of consumers to avoid electrical accident.
Water supply to Puri, Nimapara, Khurda and Bhubaneswar towns has been fully restored while 50 to 80 per cent water supply has been restored in Cuttack and Jatni. Water is being supplied using generators at pumping stations, through water tankers and PVC tanks in these towns, he claimed.
The official death toll due to cyclone Fani has been put at 41 so far. However, the toll may go up after detailed reports are received. While 21 deaths have been reported from Puri district, four each from Mayurbhaj district, Bhubaneswar city and Jajpur district, three from Kendrapara and five from Cuttack districts have been reported.
The I&PR Secretary further said the livestock casualty number stands at 21,76,998, of which 21,75,383 are poultry birds, 737 are large animals and 878 are small animals. Over 1.5 crore people have been affected due to the cyclone and reports suggest that 5,08,464 houses have been damaged.