Adityapur now enjoys uninterrupted power supply. Picture by Animesh Sengupta

If power cuts aren’t tormenting Adityapur this summer, it is because competition with a private service provider has forced the state-run power utility to pull up its socks.

As a result, the industrial township near Jamshedpur is sleeping better at night, enjoying uninterrupted power to run fans and ACs, a luxury that till recently eluded the Seraikela-Kharsawan district conclave.

“We had never imagined that we would get uninterrupted power supply during the night in our colony. But since the last year or so, we have hardly any complaint against Jharkhand State Electricity Board (JSEB),” said Ram Gyani.

The resident of Road No 11 in Adityapur Colony also said: “Power doesn’t trip during nights and load-shedding during the day is only for two hours.”

Tata subsidiary Jusco started providing power to the industrial township three years ago. And things started to change from then on.

Today, Jusco has about 6,000 consumers, including 250 industrial consumers, said spokesperson Rajesh Ranjan. During peak hours, it supplies 70-80 MW, sourcing power from Tata Power and DVC when required.

Recently, it started catering to three villages in the outskirts of Adityapur and is now looking at spreading out to another 25 villages in the vicinity.

JSEB consumers — 22,000 in all, including 1,000 industrial units — are now reaping the benefits as efficiency breeds efficiency, competition has always shown.

G. B. Sahu has his own story to tell.

“When Surangini Apartment beside our house got power from Jusco three years ago, we used to stare at their lit up flats in envy while we suffered in the dark, courtesy JSEB. But this year, we are feeling better as the power supply at night has become as good as Jusco’s,” he told The Telegraph.

Obviously, JSEB has made improvements. The board installed over half a dozen new transformers and stepped up maintenance of feeders and overheard cables.

Officials admitted they had also asked central load despatch in Ranchi to ensure adequate power — at least 100 MW — to the Gamharia grid sub-station that supplies to Adityapur.

O.P. Ombasta, JSEB general manager for Jamshedpur area, however, denied the improvements had anything to do with Jusco’s arrival in Adityapur. “We are paying equal attention to all JSEB command areas, including Mango, Azadnagar, Olidih. Jugsalai, Parsudih and Sundernagar,” he claimed in typical bureaucratic fashion.

But residents of Mango, Azadnagar, Olidih, Parsudih, Jugsalai and Sundernagar, all under JSEB, do not agree. Supply was still at best erratic, they claimed.