india

Updated: May 08, 2019 23:55 IST

Thousands of people in Puri, where Cyclone Fani made landfall on May 3 — and Bhubaneswar remained without power on Wednesday even as the Odisha government gave the assurance that electricity supply in the capital would be normalised by May 12.

Sanjay Singh, secretary of information and public relations department, said by Wednesday evening the power connections of 7,700 of the 3 lakh consumers in Bhubaneswar had been restored. But Puri, ground zero of Cyclone Fani, would get power only after a month, he added.

“Since the electricity infrastructure in Puri has been massively damaged, it will take a long time for restoration. But we are trying to restore power on Grand Road in front of Jagannath Temple by May 12 in view of the preparations for rath yatra,” Singh said. Cyclone Fani damaged five towers of 400 KV capacity, 27 towers of 220 KV capacity, 21 towers of 130 KV capacity, four grids of 220 KV capacity and four grids of 132 KV capacity.

Similarly, 5,030 km of 33 KV lines, 38,613 km of 11 KV lines, 11,077 distribution transformers and 79,485 km of LT lines have been damaged.

State power secretary Hemant Sharma said around 500 gangs, having 10 persons in each gang, were working to restore power. An officer is also deputed with every gang. “These gangs have been mobilized from various states. Some gangs have been outsourced from Andhra Pradesh, some from West Bengal and more are on their way to Odisha.”

“We are trying to dispatch teams of ITI and Polytechnic students to each house from tomorrow so that they can sort out problems there. These students are undergoing training in tasks done by electricians and plumbers. They will be deployed in Bhubaneswar as well as Puri,” said Sharma.

People in villages, however, continued to grow impatient despite the government’s assurances. Some took to repairing electricity lines by themselves.

In Kantabada village near Bhubaneswar, more than 100 youths erected poles and rigged up lines that had sagged as their pleas to power officials did not yield any result.

“The pole bearing 11 KV power line to our village had got bent and the lines were sagging. For the last five days, none of the people in our village and adjoining five other villages were able to sleep due to lack of power. Our lives have become hell,” said Dilip Martha, president of the Netaji Youth Club of Kantabada village. “We got a man from Central Electricity Supply Utility to help us repair the lines. All the youths in our village chipped in with whatever contribution they could make. Tomorrow we will go to the local junior engineer office to request him to restore power supply,” said Martha.

In neighbouring Chandaka village near Bhubaneswar, where a 400 KV structure lay twisted and mangled by Cyclone Fani, officials of Powergrid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL) tried hard to erect a 61-metre-tall Emergency Restoration System (ERS) tower to put up a quick transmission line. The PGCIL structure fell on high-tension power lines near it, snapping power supply to Bhubaneswar. “The ERS tower can be put up in a couple of days. Had we built a new tower, it would have taken at least three weeks. We plan to make it ready by Thursday evening,” said a senior official of PGCIL, requesting anonymity. Around him, labourers with expertise in electrical repairs kept working on the tower wearing safety boots and gloves.

“We started work early in the morning and had a break of just half an hour for lunch before we resumed work,” said a labourer from Bengal. On the marshy lands next to the Asian College of Business Management in Bhola village, Sadikul Haq, an electrical contractor who specializes in repair of high tension lines, advised his labourers how to quickly finish repairing a 220 KV tower.

“I normally fast during Ramzan, but this time I have not been able to observe it as there is too much work to do. Yesterday, my workers finished repairing another 220 KV tower. I have been given impossible deadlines. There is no time even to sleep,” said Haq. The work of electrical labourers and officials drew praise from chief minister Naveen Patnaik who tweeted video clips of power restoration work. As work on restoration of power supply continued, the demand for diesel Gensets, kerosene lanterns and candles spiked in Puri and Bhubaneswar.

Bhubaneswar-based diesel Genset dealer Badri Narayan Samantaray said he had sold more Gensets in the last 4 days than he does in a month. “I am unable to meet the demand. People are just buying without even haggling for discount,” he said.

In Puri town, candles are being sold at Rs 50-60 a piece due to high demand and shortage of stock. “I have asked my cousin in Bhubaneswar to come with 3-4 packets of candles,” said Mantu Kolladu, a fisherman from Betanolia Sahi on Puri sea beach. The price of kerosene lanterns too has doubled. Like power, people continued to do without telecom connectivity even as the government claimed it had asked private telecom operators to improve services. In Puri, Bharti Airtel on Wednesday installed its first Cell-on-Wheel mobile tower on Puri Grand Road. The company has positioned 13 such towers in the Puri-Bhubaneswar belt to re-establish connectivity and improve network coverage.

Cell-on-Wheel is a portable mobile cellular site that provides temporary network and wireless coverage to locations where cellular coverage is minimal or compromised.

Mobile service operator Jio will also be sending Cell-on-Wheel towers, said officials.

But people in Bhubaneswar continued to complain about the poor connectivity offered by mobile companies. For the last 3-4 days, hundreds of youths have been milling on flyovers in an attempt to get signal. “I had to check the results of my entrance exam to the National Defence Academy. So I came to Bomikhal flyover. But I have not been able to check so far,” said Biplab Sahu, a youth. Meanwhile, the National Human Rights Commission issued a notice to the Odisha government after reports that relief material did not reach people in parts of Puri and Khurdha districts and sought immediate steps to address the issue, PTI reported.