JAGATSINGHPUR: As the sweltering condition is making life difficult, unscheduled and erratic power cut across various blocks of Jagatsinghpur district have only worsened the situation for people in Biridi, Kujang, Tirtol, Jagatsinghpur, Naugaon, Balikuda and Erasama areas. Disgruntled with Tata Power Central Odisha Distribution Limited (TPCODL), residents have taken to the protest route alleging power cut of over six hours daily at regular intervals.
They are even more resentful of TPCODL officials not attending panchayat samiti meetings to resolve the issues in many places. On Thursday, residents of Raghunathpur block staged a sit-in dharna in front of the electricity office protesting the unscheduled disruption of power supply amid the prevailing heat wave conditions in the district.
Rallying under the aegis of Raghunathpur Mandal Consumer Association (RMCA), the protestors alleged frequent outages taking a toll on their health. Earlier, chaos also prevailed in the panchayat samiti meeting of Kujang block over non-participation of the TPCODL officials to resolve the issues. Members of the Muslim community expressed their ire over the prolonged power outages during the holy month of Ramzan. Among worst affected are students preparing for the board examinations.
“Given the searing heat, it is impossible to study without electricity,” said Sukant Jena, a student of Raghunathpur. Farmers too shared their difficulties as power cuts are hampering supply of water through lift irrigation points. Contacted, Executive Engineer (Electrical) Jagatsinghpur division Ashok Kumar Jena agreed to 45 minutes and one hour power cut in urban and rural areas, respectively as per the direction of the higher authorities. “We have stopped maintenance work except any emergency during the heat wave to avoid supply disruption,” he said.