Concerned over the delay in restoration of power supply in the worst-hit Ganjam district, Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik on Tuesday asked the Energy department to complete it by November 5.
The Government has also decided to constitute a high-level Task Force to undertake probe into the cause of the large-scale damage caused to the vital power installations (EH towers) during Phailin.
During the review of the progress made so far on restoration of the damaged electricity structures, the Chief Minister gave the target of November 5 to provide power connection to the consumers in Ganjam district, said Energy Minister Arun Kumar Sahu.
Talking to mediapersons after the review meeting, Sahu said that the restoration works have been delayed due to intermittent rains following the fresh depression in the Bay of Bengal and opposition by the farmers to restore the lines and poles fallen on the cultivated land.
However, he said, efforts were being made for alternative arrangements to install poles and draw lines.
Sahu said that in Ganjam as many as 4 lakh electric poles have been damaged due to Phailin and the loss to electricity network has been more than 70 per cent of the total damage.
As per the estimate, the Energy department has suffered maximum loss due to the cyclone and flood and around Rs 1,048.14 crore assistance has been sought from the Centre to restore power supply in the affected areas.
Sahoo said that since the workers engaged in the electricity structure restoration work in the calamity-hit areas were toiling for 10 hours a day, the Chief Minister had approved a proposal to provide higher wages to them.
As many as 2,500 skilled and semi-skilled workers are engaged in the restoration work and Central Government has provided 350 technical staff for this, he said.
Energy Secretary Pradeep Kumar Jena said that the Government has decided to constitute a high-level Task Force comprising experts from Central Electricity Authority, PGCIl, retired electrical engineers and senior engineers of OPTCl to probe into the cause of severe damage caused to the vital installations like EH towers during the cyclone.
The Task Force would probe whether the towers and KV sub-stations were built without following the stipulated norms that would sustain around 270 KM wind speed, he said, adding that as many as 64 EH towers were uprooted and damaged due to the impact of Phailin, while only 28 EH towers were damaged in the 1999 Super Cyclone.