Bhubaneswar: The double whammy of frequent power outages and sweltering heat conditions has enraged people across the state with many raising their voices and resorting to protests demanding an uninterrupted supply of electricity.
As per reports, power outages have become a regular occurrence in several areas over the past few days. And on top of it, the indifference of the power distribution companies to consumer complaints has added to the public resentment.
While the unrelenting power cuts have made the daytime unlivable, the damaged transformers and the extremely long time the authorities are taking to repair them have added to the woes. Meanwhile, thousands of contractual electricity workers continued their agitation in the state, demanding reinstatement of retrenched employees and implementation of a separate Odisha outsourcing model. Expressing concern over the issue, an agitating worker said,
“Removing the electrical contractors who have been providing seamless service for several years in the name of cost-cutting is unfortunate.” Another protesting worker said, “T&D loss was at 30% when Tata Power was entrusted with power distribution in the state five years back. But with relentless work, we have now managed to bring down that loss to less than 15%, approximately Rs 9,000 crore.
The company used us when it wanted our service and now that their losses came down significantly, they threw us out.” Deputy Chief Minister KV Singh Deo, who also holds the Energy portfolio, said the situation arising out of the prevailing heatwave conditions is beyond anyone’s control.
He said electricity demand has surged significantly during peak hours due to increased use of air conditioners and cooling appliances.
However, he assured that the govt and distribution agencies are taking steps to restore the electricity supply at the earliest.
