Even after five days of the cyclone, power supply is yet to be restored in many parts of Puri town as well as the district thanks to the callous attitude of the power companies.
The rural areas are worst hit as in many villages electricity wires and poles are yet to be fixed and power supply restored. In this situation, the power companies say it will take another fortnight to restore power supply in all the areas. However, many attribute this failure in power supply restoration to the rift between the two private companies — Cesu and Fedco — which took two days to settle the dispute as to who would carry out the repairs of lT and HT lines.
These two companies did not even care to cut tree branches close to overhead cable lines before the monsoon season. Also, even after receiving the cyclone warning before 72 hours, they did precious little to cut tree branches to minimise damage, said a power department official.
Restoration of power supply is moving at snail’s pace and after five days partial supply has been restored in Konark town only, while rest of the district is reeling from darkness. In many places, villagers are seen clearing fallen trees from the power cables and straightening electric poles.