Steel city sweats under Erratic power supply
ROURKELA: At a time when mercury is hovering between 43 and 45.6 degree Celsius, erratic power supply continues to heap miseries on denizens of the steel city. Be it the blistering heat condition in the day or the uncomfortable hours of night, undeclared power cut and tripping continue to add to the sufferings of the people.
A delegation of the BJP on Wednesday met the Rourkela ADM demanding the administrative intervention in checking erratic power supply.
BJP spokesperson and former chairman of erstwhile Rourkela Municipality Ramesh Chandra Bal said Koelnagar, Shaktinagar, Daily Market, Basanti Colony, Chhend Colony and Uditnagar of Rourkela Municipal Corporation (RMC) limits are forced to go without power for 60 to 90 minutes per day with no fixed timing or intimation.
He claimed that while discom failed to provide quality power supply to city denizens, it is entirely focused only on making revenue. An 11-KV grid sub-station at Sheetalnagar for the consumers of Bondamunda was inaugurated a year back, but the asset is getting damaged without use.
The RMC requires about 80-85 Mega Watt power. Wesco sources say more than 50,000 air conditioners are running at the same time and the number continues to grow. It causes additional load pressure of about 35 per cent. Wesco Superintending Engineer A N Meher said consumers are drawing excessive power with increased use of ACs and air coolers.
All the transformer sub-stations are fitted with safety fuse breakers. During overloading, fuse breakers get automatically blown to save the transformers. Similarly, safety control system causes tripping during overloading, while some areas report breakdowns due to excessive load, he added.