JAGATSINGHPUR: Despite the allocation of funds for the provision of lighting, the Rahama-Khosalpur bridge under Kujang block remains dark in the evening hours. This has contributed to a rise in criminal activities like snatching, dacoity, loot, and eve-teasing on the bridge creating discontentment among the locals.
Sources said the administration had sought the intervention of Paradip Refinery of IOCL to provide funds for electrification of the bridge following which Rs 53.74 lakh was sanctioned last January. The district administration had also directed the executive engineer of TPCODL to provide an electricity connection on March 25, 2022.
Accordingly, the Kujang BDO instructed the sarpanch of Hansura and Talapada panchayats to bear the cost of the bills and both agreed to share on 50-50 basis. But, since the TPCODL authorities wanted to provide lighting on the bridge through the existing 100 kv transformer, locals protested citing overloading. Since then, the electrification work is pending.
Sarpanch of Hansura panchyat Rabinarayan Das informed that the only 100KV transformer at Khosalpur has 180 consumers. Besides, rice mills have also availed electric connection from the same transformer due to which villagers bear low-voltage during evening hours. “The bridge illumination would require additional 5 kilowatts for which the locals urged TPCODL to install a separate transformer but they did not pay any heed,” Das added.
Villagers of Hansura and Talapada have also demanded to install a 250 KV transformer at Khosalpur to deal with overloading. BDO, Kujang Souymya Shree Panigrahi informed that there was no provision for illumination of this bridge in the first estimate. “So another estimate of Rs 1.01 lakh has been allocated for installation of transformer which will be completed in a week,” he added.