Rain comes with its bag of woes

DHENKANAL: Villages in Dhenkanal district have become a hub of darkness with the onset of monsoon. As many as 100 villages of tribal-dominated Kankadahad block have been going without power for the past 15 days, as power lines were damaged due to high velocity wind, rain and lightening accompanying the frequent thunderstorms here.
Power is yet to be restored to large swathes of Kamakshyanagar and Kankadahad blocks 15 days after a heavy thundersquall that swept the region uprooted a large number of trees and electric poles.Inordinate delay in restoration of power supply and tardy response of authorities has paralyzed normal life here, especially business transactions, telecommunication, health and other basic services, which have come to a grinding halt.
The inordinate delay in restoring the power has created widespread resentment among people here. "We are facing great difficulties, forced to spend our evenings in pitch darkness since a fortnight," said 40-year-old Mataka Tudu of Dangapal village. "We are completely detached from communication as our mobile phones are switched off. Though we have informed CESU officials repeatedly, no one has paid any heed to our plight so far," he said.
Villagers said they feel insecure as the block is Maoist-infested and dense forests surround the entire region. Even police personnel have stopped patrolling the area during night hours now.
"My family is suffering a lot due to the power disruption. Initially we were lighting kerosene lamps. But the prolonged power cut has exhausted stock of kerosene in retail counters now, some of which has been siphoned off in the black market," said 25-year-old Damodar Gagarai, a tribal of Tariniposi village. "We are using firewood and til oil (indigenous cooking oil) for lightening to get respite from darkness," he said.
Some villagers have started to use two wheeler and four wheeler vehicle batteries as mobile phone battery charging point.
Government and non-government officials are also facing great trouble in conducting official work. Hospital authorities are unable to keep life-saving medicines in cold storage. "In the age of e-database system, documentation work has come to a halt. We have to go to Kamakshyanagar area (at a distance of 20 km) even to make photocopy of a document," said a government official.
CESU executive engineer Sanatan Tunga admitted delay in restoration of power connection. He said efforts are on to restore the power supply as soon as possible. Meanwhile, tribals have criticized NTPC authorities as they are not visiting the villages and not taking steps to expedite restoration of power supply.
According to sources, 83 villages of the tribal block have been electrified by Rajiv Gandhi Bidyutkaran Yojana (RGBY) under National Thermal Power Corporation (NTPC). With the ongoing construction of a new electric sub-station in Kankadahad block, RGBY beneficiaries are provided power supply by Central Electricity Supply Company (CESU) for the interim period. RGBY connection is made through tapping 22 points from 11KV cable, from Kamakshyanagar to Kankadahad block.
NTPC is also constructing a new substation at a cost of Rs 5 crores at Kankadahad block for one-and-a- half years now. Though the project is scheduled to be completed by July 2011, slow pace of work will delay the work, an official said. The beneficiaries under RGBY are BPL families as listed by district administration on the basis of 1997 statistics.