No electricity for five days, Bhubaneswar slum dwellers stage protest

Tension prevailed at a slum near Chandrasekhapur area in Bhubaneswar late Sunday night over an alleged power cut.

The unprecedented incident of power outage surfaced from a slum near Aurobindo Nagar area in Bhubaneswar where residents of a locality staged a demonstration and gheraoed the electricity office demanding restoration of power.

The agitators staged protests and shouted slogans. They also tried to barge into the office premises that was kept locked from within.

Following the escalation of tensions, Chandrasekharpur police arrived at the spot and attempted to pacify the agitators. However, the unrest continued for nearly five hours before calming down.

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Meanwhile, one of the protestors claimed that the electricity office had cut off the power supply to their locality for the past five days over false claims of non-payment of dues. 

“The electricity officials are demanding Rs 2 lakh to restore power supply but we do not know from where they are quoting this sum of money. I can confidently claim that we do not have any pending bills,” claimed a local resident.

An electricity office employee present at the site claimed that they had no clue about the reasons behind the five-day-long power cut. “We cannot provide any details as we do not know the exact scenario as senior officials have not shared any details with us,” he stated.

Later, it was reported that the electricity supply to the settlement was restored after the intervention of Chief Minister Mohan Majhi.

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No comment could be obtained from the electricity department authorities regarding the disconnection of the power supply.