LIVING IN THE DARK
Bhubaneswar, Oct. 11: Once considered power surplus, the state is now reeling from massive power shortage this year. The city is faring no better, with most parts experiencing outages of over two hours every day.
However, with Durga Puja round the corner, the authorities have decided not to disrupt power supply between 6pm and 6am.
While residents are happy with the decision, the city is likely to experience more power cuts during the day, officials of Central Electricity Supply Utility (Cesu) said.
"As of now, the duration of power cut was one hour each during the day and in the evening. But with the government's latest decision not to disrupt power supply between 6pm and 6am, it is likely that power cuts during day time will be extended," said a Cesu official.
Superintending engineer of Cesu, Sukanta Kumar Swain said that according to the government's decision, there would be no power cuts in the evenings. "We have asked all the officials concerned to ensure that power is not disrupted from 6pm to 6am," he said.
Cesu officials added that though the city's average power requirement was 220 megawatt (MW) a day, it goes up to 280MW during pick hours in October because of festivals. The state is now facing a shortfall of 400-500MW during peak hours when the demand is around 4,000MW.
Power cuts during evening hours has led to an increase in petty crimes in the city. Police said at least six cases of snatching were reported last month from residential areas during power cuts in the evening.
