About 5,000 residents of 38 hamlets in Bargaon block of Sundargarh district have been living in darkness since long. The residents had also drawn the attention of the authorities of Wesco and also of the district administration but power restoration has not yet been done.
According to sources, electricity connection had been provided to a number of villages in Sundargarh district under the Dindayal Upadhaya Gramin Jyoti (DUGJ) scheme. But residents of 38 hamlets in Bargaon block who had got electricity under the scheme have been living in darkness because the transformers which had been installed in these hamlets are lying defunct.
The school students residing in these hamlets are the worst affected as they are not able to attend online classes due to non availability of electricity. Since these hamlets are closer to forest area, the residents have been living in fear, thinking about wild elephants to enter into villages in darkness.
The villagers had also drawn attention of district administration regarding non availability of power but to no avail. “Our concerned Executive Engineer has already written about defunct transformers to Power Grid Corporation India Ltd., and they will conduct an inquiry into it and will take necessary action for replacement of transformers after discussing with the supplier, for restoration of power,” said Superintendent Engineer, Wesco, Rourkela, AN Meher.
Significantly, hundreds of crores of rupees were spent for electrification in villages under Dindayal Upadhaya Gramin Jyoti scheme in Sundargarh district and about 3,000 transformers was supplied by Vijay Electrical, Hyderabad. But a number of transformers got burnt and went out of order soon after installation.