BHUBANESWAR: As unscheduled power cuts and low voltage are being experienced in many parts of the State, the Assembly Committee on Electricity on Monday directed the Energy department to take care of the problems by improving the system.
The House Committee meeting chaired by Speaker SN Patro asked the Department to replace defunct transformers in urban areas within 48 hours and in rural areas within 72 hours. There should not be any precondition like payment of outstanding dues for replacing the defunct transformers as consumers, who have been paying electricity bills regularly, are also affected.
With members of the committee complaining that there is a lot to be desired from the power distribution companies so far as service delivery by their field staff is concerned, the meeting decided to set up four sub-committees to review the performance of the four discoms - Cesu, Nesco, Wesco and Southco.
The sub-committees will look into different aspects starting from power generation to distribution and submit reports to the chairman of the committee recommending measures to be taken for resolving problems faced by consumers.
Energy Secretary Hemant Sharma briefed the members about steps taken by the State Government and the discoms to improve the power sector.
Leader of Opposition Pradipta Nayak, Food Supplies Minister RP Swain, Steel and Mines Minister Prafulla Mallick, Energy Minister DS Mishra, BJP chief whip Mohan Majhi, senior Congress leader Narasingh Mishra, Santosh Singh Saluja, Amar Sathpathy, Kishore Mohanty and other members of the committee participated in the deliberation.