Corporates come forward to restore power infra in Ganjam

The corporates have offered DG (diesel generators) sets of huge capacity to ensure water supply at different places in the district

Top corporate houses like Jindal Steel & Power Ltd (JSPL), Tata Power, Adani Group, Essar Group, Tata Steel, Rourkela Steel Plant (RSP) and Visakhapatnam Steel have joined the state government in restoration of power infrastructure in Ganjam, the district worst hit by killer storm Phailin.

These corporates have offered DG (diesel generators) sets of huge capacity to ensure water supply at different places in the district.

"The drinking water supply in urban areas like Berhampur, Chhatrapur, Berhampur University, Aska, Sheragada and some other areas has been restored with the running of the big capacity DGs ranging from 5 KVA to 350 KVA," Ganjam collector Krishan Kumar said.

Drinking water supply in Ganjam district was severely hit as power distribution infrastructure was ravaged by the cyclonic storm that struck the southern coast near Gopalpur on October 12. A preliminary assessment has pegged the total property loss in the district at Rs 3,432.03 crore. This includes Rs 1,750.26 crore damage to public properties.

The Ganjam district administration has submitted a memorandum on damages to Union home secretary Anil Goswami who visited the district last Sunday.

Meanwhile, the Southern Electricity Supply Company of Odisha Ltd (Southco), with its manpower of 1,522 personnel and a team of 2,400 more persons drawn from organisations like Tata Steel, NTPC, Power Grid Corporation of India Ltd (PGCIL), L&T and National Hydro Power Corporation (NHPC), has taken up power restoration on a war footing.

"So far, fourteen 33/11 KV primary substations of the district, located at Digapahandi, Podamari, Ambagada, Lochapada, Khallikote, Chhatrapur, Narendrapur, Lalsinghi, K.B Pur, Belaguntha, Nilakanthanagar and Bhanjanagar, have been charged giving respite to around 100,000 consumers who were without power for last few days.

"Earlier, power supply to other affected districts namely Gajapati, Kandhamal, Boudh and Rayagada were restored to a large extent, except for some areas where repair and restoration process is still on," said a release from Southco.

"Given the magnitude of devastation and also the complexity of restoration work, normalcy in power supply in Ganjam district may take a few days and is expected to be restored fully by the end of this month," said Southco's managing director Prashant Choudhary.