Keeping in view the widespread resentment of frequent power cuts across Odisha, the Odisha Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) on Wednesday decided to conduct a third-party audit of the Rs 1900 crore spent by Tata Power for the development of electricity distribution infrastructure in the State.
The decision was taken in the annual performance review of Tata Power Central Odisha Distribution Limited (TPCODL) in Bhubaneswar.
Apart from the audit, the power distribution company will have to facilitate visits by senior officials of OERC to each of its divisions every month to see if the money is being spent appropriately and if there are any shortcomings in infrastructure.
“Instructions have been given to Tata Power to complete feeder metering and transformer metering within a stipulated time period. Officials of the OERC have also been directed to visit the divisions of each DISCOM every month,” said OERC Director, Priyabrata Patnaik.
However, Tata Power maintained that there are no power cuts due to overloading or load shedding in Odisha. The distribution company continued to blame norwester rains for widespread power outages in the State witnessed this summer.
TPCODL CEO Arvind Singh said, “We had to face too many norwester storms, more precisely 237 norwesters this year stressing the electrical workers on the ground.”
“There was no overloading issue, all the power outages were due to norwester rains,” Singh asserted.
Meanwhile, with no relief from power outages even after some brief spells of rains, the agitations and protests over alleged power cuts continue to make headlines almost every day.
Vehicular movement on Berhampur - Gosaninuagaon main road came to a standstill after irked locals staged a road blockade throughout Tuesday night over repeated and unscheduled power cuts by Tata Power.
Angry locals also detained two employees of TPSODL (Tata Power Southern Odisha Distribution Limited) alleging unscheduled power cuts and low voltage problems.
“Every time, they give us fake assurance and continue with power cuts. So, we don’t trust them at all. Moreover, our children have exams coming soon. So, we are demanding a written assurance from the officials concerned,” a local resident said.