Negligence pushes Odisha’s first power house into oblivion
CUTTACK: Once supplying power to several educational institutions and offices during the British era, the first power house of Odisha, located on the premises of Ravenshaw university is now languishing in neglect.
Sources said the British had established the power house at the then Ravenshaw College in 1924 to generate and supply electricity to the institution, besides a few other important places in the city.
The equipment had been sourced from a company in London’s Birmingham and the power house was set up with installation of three generators.
Apart from supplying electricity to the principal’s office, arts and science blocks, east and west hostels and a few street lights on the campus, the power house also electrified the Cuttack railway station and the Lalbag Palace, the British Governor’s house.
The oil-fired generators produced direct current and the British procured crude oil from Calcutta (now Kolkata) by trains to run the generators. However, the facility is lying unused for the last several decades.
The then Ravenshaw vice-chancellor Debdas Chhotray had proposed to restore the power house in 2011 but his proposal was forgotten soon after the end of his tenure.
Ironically, most students of the university are even unaware of its existence and past glory. When asked about the British-era power house, many students expressed ignorance about its location. Some others said they never had the opportunity to see the power house from the inside as it remains locked all the time. At present, the building lies in a dilapidated state, without any repair or maintenance work.
Contacted, head of the history department of the university, Prof Umakant Satapathy said efforts had been made to restore the power house but the engineers failed to bring the generators back to working condition.
An alumnus of the university Gopal Chandra Patnaik, however opined that the state government should initiate steps for repair and restoration of the power house and recognise it as a heritage structure.