Protesters gherao Odisha energy minister’s res frequent power outages
By Mahendra Darjee
Bhubaneswar, June 18: The members of Naba Nirman Yuva Chhatra Sangathan, the student wing of farmers’ organisation Naba Nirman Krushak Sangathan (NNKS), on Saturday gheraoed the residence of Odisha energy minister Pratap Keshari Deb alleging frequent power cuts across the state.
The activists of the organisation raised slogans against Tata Power, the power distribution company in Odisha, for failing to provide uninterrupted power supply.
“Odisha is a power surplus state. But things have become worse as there are rampant power cuts in the state which have compounded the miseries of the people in this gruelling heat and humid conditions,” said a protestor.
The Naba Nirman Yuva Chhatra Sanganthan also demanded the resignation of the energy minister over his claims of no power cut in the state.
“Rs 20,000 crore was sanctioned for the development of infrastructure and additional funds were sanctioned for underground cabling work in Bhubaneswar. But it still failed to provide power to us,” said a protestor.
The protesters also demanded free electricity of 200 units per household and free power for the agriculture sector in the state. Later, the protestors were taken away from the spot by police personnel after a minor scuffle.
“We had come to question the minister over the power cuts. But the police took us. We will intensify our agitation in the coming days,” another agitator said.
Earlier, the Congress and Bharatiya Janata Party had staged protests in front of the energy minister’s house protesting frequent power outages. In fact, the Odisha government now finds itself as to how to address the power outage problem since the infrastructure by its own admission is unable to handle the peak hour demand of 5,600 mw.
