BHUBANESWAR: Members cutting across partylines on Friday came down heavily on the Government for the unscheduled power cuts in different parts of the State even during the winter season.
The House witnessed noisy scenes as Opposition Congress members rushed to the well alleging that the State Government has failed to improve power supply during the last 17 years.
Energy Minister Prafulla Mallick found himself cornered as members alleged that the unscheduled power cut extended to more than four to five hours putting common people in lot of difficulty. Anubhav Mohanty and Kishore Tarai (both BJD) questioned why there is unscheduled power cuts in several areas of their constituencies extending to more than four to five hours everyday when the Government claims that the situation has improved. People of several areas of Koraput and Balangir districts are facing problems due to such unscheduled power cut.
The Energy Minister on the other hand attributed the power cuts to shortage of coal and other maintenance works. Alleging that rural areas of the State have plunged into darkness, Opposition chief whip Tara Prasad Bahinipati alleged that Government has no data on how much power is generated and how much is the requirement.