BHUBANESWAR: The Nor’wester that hit the state capital on Thursday snapping power supply to major parts of the city for more than eight hours has exposed the chinks in the armour of Tata Power Corporation Limited (TPCL) about its emergency response to a calamitous situation of miniature size.
TPCL which holds management control over all four power distribution companies in the state, including TP Central Odisha Distribution Ltd (TPCODL), failed to restore power supply to the least affected areas in the city even after 10 hours of the summer storm. This is despite quick response and assistance from Odisha Fire Services and emergency action teams of Bhubaneswar Municipal Corporation in the removal of fallen trees.
Irked by the sluggish restoration, chief secretary Pradeep Jena took to his Twitter handle to pull up TPCODL authorities questioning their capacity to handle the situation in the event of a cyclone.
This was followed by a barrage of complaints on the micro-blogging platform as irate consumers went berserk due to no response from the distribution licensee to their frantic calls. As the sweltering heat made life miserable without electricity and the customer care service remained incommunicado, the consumers had no option but to draw the attention of the callous authorities through social media.
“11 hrs of power cut yesterday & yet u have disconnected supply 2day. The inverter batteries have not been charged completely. R you not ashamed of such a pitiable service quality?,” tweeted Santiswarup Mahapatra, a consumer under Bhubaneswar electrical division (BED).
The TPCODL responded, “Sir, we would like to inform you that the power outage is due to a power line issue (11 KV Feeder breakdown). We are working towards power restoration at the earliest and the expected resolution time is 2 PM. Appreciate your patience.”
Similar complaints were reported from Nimpara, Jagatsingpur, Kendrapada and Paradeep which were severely affected by the Thursday thunderstorm. The TPCODL has 511 Bidyut Seva Kendras to help consumers. The New Indian Express made several attempts to know the extent of damage to the power distribution system in the city but failed to get any response from the TPCODL team.
Contacted, Energy Minister Pratap Keshar Deb said, “Let me find out.” The minister who had on earlier occasions defended power outages in TPCODL area calling them ‘trips,’ and not ‘power cuts,’ then went silent, leaving consumers to assume the state government has nothing to do with their sufferings just because the distribution utility has been privatised.