The power sub-station that awaits inauguration. Picture by Surajit Roy

Malda, Jan. 1: All that stands between residents of Bhutni island on the Ganga and electricity is West Bengal chief minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharjee.

Overheard power cables criss-cross the skyline of the island and a 133-kv sub-station built by the West Bengal State Electricity Board (WBSEB) is ready and waiting to supply the electricity. But that will have to wait until Bhattacharjee inaugurates the station.

“We have asked the chief minister’s office for a date when he can come here to inaugurate the sub-station. Though we have not got any confirmation, we hope it will be sometime this month,” said Subhas Bhattacharya, the power board’s zonal manager.

The Rs 80-crore sub-station, built with funds from the Japan Bank for International Cooperation, is the second in the Chanchol area of the district.

A senior WBSEB engineer said pillars had been raised from the riverbed and overhead lines were ready to transmit power to all the houses in the island located in the Manikchak police station area.

The people of the island will receive power when the chief minister inaugurates the sub-station.

With only one sub-station, vast areas of Malda district still experience long periods of power cuts. Once the new sub-station begins to function, the district, which has a daily demand of 42 MW, will see brighter days.

“The sub-station is already feeding power and the process of synchronisation is still on, but we are determined to have the facility formally inaugurated by the chief minister,” said a senior WBSEB official.

Residents of Bhutni, however, are not excited about the prospect of the seemingly endless wait for Bhattacharjee to do the honours.

“What is the use of erecting the poles and laying the cables if they do not supply power. We have been living without electricity for so long and now all of us are eager to see lamps glowing in our homes,” a Bhutni resident, Nurul Islam, said.

The power board as well as a Haryana-based company is lobbying hard to get the chief minister in Malda by the end of this month. Sukhjit Starch Company, which has a Rs 18-crore factory that will manufacture glucose from corn starch is also keen on having Bhattacharjee inaugurate it. Minister of food processing Sailen Sarkar is also pursuing the matter.