ROURKELA: Around 300 employees of the Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) along with their families are reportedly spending sleepless nights without electricity for the last four days after a norwester caused massive damage to power infrastructure in the Rourkela Industrial Township on Monday evening.
An RSP employee requesting anonymity said it is a harrowing ordeal to live without power for so long in the sultry weather. He said the battery back-up of his inverter was fully exhausted after the first day.
Vice-President of INTUC-affiliated Rourkela Shramik Sangh Nihar Das said the norwester on Monday evening caused massive damage to power infrastructure affecting electricity supply in Sectors 1, 2, 3, 4, 19 and 20. While it took four to 24 hours to restore normalcy in Sector 19, other affected areas had to suffer 24 hours to 72 hours before getting power supply on Wednesday night. The worst affected areas were the B and C blocks of Sector 1 where power supply was restored on Thursday late evening after four days.
He said there are around 300 more RSP quarters in different affected sector areas where occupants along with residents of Khariabahal slum in Sector 2 and another slum in Sector 1 are yet to get back power supply.
RSP’s electrical employees along with contractual workers have been engaged to restore power supply. However, due to inadequate manpower, completion of restoration works is lingering, Das claimed.
“The responsibility for power supply and maintenance is vested with the RSP’s Town Services department. The RSP management should mobilise technical manpower from inside the plant to fully restore normalcy without further delay,” he added.
President of the BMS-affiliated Rourkela Ispat Karkhana Karmachari Sangh Himanshu Sekhar Bal said considering the difficulty of the affected employees and their family members, the RSP should speed up efforts to restore power supply to the remaining affected areas.
Meanwhile on Thursday, residents of Khariabahal slum blocked the Sector 2 road for a few hours demanding restoration of power supply and other demands.