As Energy minister keeps mum on power outages, TPCODL blames nor'wester

Odisha Energy Minister, Pratap Keshari Deb kept mum and avoided media when asked about the power supply situation put in place for the Rath Yatra this year.

Deb was in Puri to attend the final Rath Yatra coordination meeting, when he was asked the question. But the minister did not reply and avoided the media.

It is pertinent to mention here that the pilgrim town of Puri is expected to see a turnout of more than 10 lakh devotees during Rath Yatra this year. So, the Energy Department is expected to remain prepared to cater to the surge in power demand.

Earlier, Deb had said that there are no power cuts in Odisha and advised the media not to use the term ‘power cut’ in their news reports.

Deb further said that transformers and wires get burnt due to overloading and it is a major challenge for the Odisha government. Such problems and power outages are mainly due to a lack of infrastructure and time taken for necessary repair work.

Meanwhile, the authorities of Tata Power Central Odisha Distribution Limited (TPCODL) put the blame on nor'wester rain for the outages in power supply in the State.

Speaking to reporters, an official of TPCODL said, “The interruptions in the power supply are mainly due to nor'wester rain and subsequent cable breaks. However, we have doubled our resources on the field so that we can restore power supply a lot quicker whenever such a situation arises.”