Berhampur: The Ganjam district administration has taken steps for the electrification of Subarnapur, a hamlet in the coastal district of Odisha, following the direction of Chief Minister Mohan Charan Majhi, an official said.
In his inaugural address of the two-day District Collectors’ and SPs conference in Bhubaneswar, the chief minister Monday mentioned the name of Subarnapur, which has lacked electricity and directed the Ganjam collector to take swift action to electrify the small tribal habitat.
A day after the chief minister’s direction, officials of the district administration and personnel of Tata Power Southern Odisha Distribution Limited (TPSODL) visited the hamlet and started installation of around 30 electric poles and a 25-kva transformer to electrify the village, which has 25 households.
The electrification work in the village will be completed in the next seven to ten days, said Ganjam Collector Keerthi Vassan V.
Subarnapur, a hamlet of Chemedihill village, was electrified through solar panels some years ago by the Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency Limited (OREDA). After functioning for some years, the system became defunct, said another official.
As the villagers have not informed the authorities about the defunct system, the village remained in darkness for the last several years, and the students have been forced to study under lanterns and candles, he said.
Like Subarnapur, at least seven tribal dominated villages in Dharakote block are reeling under darkness, as they are yet to be electrified, sources said.
These villages and hamlets include Jhirijhira, Guduruguma, Punjiba, Batakhala in Balarampur panchayat, Jayasingi and Khajurijhola in Saba panchayat.
Block Development Officer (BDO), Dharakote, Sangram Keshari Jena, said they have already intimated the TPSODL for the electrification of these villages on a priority basis.
The chief minister in the collectors’ conference set 2027 as a deadline for power and water supply in every village in the state.
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