Durga Puja celebrations in Ranchi envelope the city in lighting arrangements of varying bright hues but the power that goes into this is often from dubious and unauthorised sources.
A number of Puja pandals drawing power from the electricity grid without permission puts unwarranted burden on the already stressed electric supply of the city, which leaves rest of the city in darkness during the festive season.
"The major pandals of Ranchi do not come to us for temporary connections as they make their own arrangements for power supply. Since the load we can offer will not be enough to satisfy their needs, they use generator sets for lighting and sound systems in their pandals. It is the smaller pandals which constitute the pressure on the power transmission grid," said General Manager of Ranchi Electric Supply Area Om Prakash Ambastha.
"last year, we received around 55 applications for electricity connections from Ranchi, against the number of more than 150 puja pandals in the city," informed JBVNl Superintendent Engineer A Kumar.
But this year will be different, it seems. Electric Supply Division Ranchi has instructed Durga Puja organising committees in Ranchi to opt for temporary electric connections instead of hooking to power lines.
"We have asked our local officials to enforce the instructions. They have been asked to survey their respective areas and demarcate the pandals which come under their jurisdiction. They will then go to the organising committees and give them applications forms for the brief electric connection," Ambastha said.
Engineers at sub-divisional level have been asked to cooperate with puja organisers so that the received applications can be processed in time. Electric meters will be installed at pandals who apply for temporary electricity connections so that they can be provided electricity as per their requirement.
"There have been some who do not adhere to the instructions issued by district administration, but we will ensure, at least to the best of our capacity, that puja pandals get temporary connections instead of encroaching on the electricity supply," said Munchun Roy, president of Ranchi Zila Durga Puja Samiti.