Congress appeals to people not to pay electricity bills till they get uninterrupted power supply

Bhubaneswar: Protesting frequent power outages across the state, the opposition Congress in Odisha called upon people not to pay pending electricity bills till they get uninterrupted power supply.

The call was given by Odisha Pradesh Congress Committee (OPCC) president Sarat Pattnayak on Monday when party workers and leaders staged a demonstration and gheraoed GRIDCO, the bulk power supplier, office in Bhubaneswar to protest frequent power outages across the state amid the hot and humid conditions.

Holding banners and raising "anti-government" slogans, the party workers gathered at the GRIDCO office and attempted to barge into the premises by breaking the barricades. However, they were prevented by police personnel.

Pattnayak said the state government had sanctioned Rs 5,000 crore to the distribution company for infrastructure development. Now the Energy minister is saying that the power outage is due to poor infrastructure.

He also said that Rs 20,000 crore was earmarked for electricity infrastructure development. Where is the remaining Rs 15,000 crore, the Congress leader asked adding that the people were suffering for no fault of theirs.

"We appeal to people not to pay pending electricity dues till they get uninterrupted power," Pattnayak said.

Congress MLA Suresh Routray alleged that the people in the state were suffering while Odisha supplies coal to other states.

Meanwhile, the BJP also gheraoed the Tata Power Central Odisha Distribution Limited (TPCODL) office in Dhenkanal on Monday while protesting the power outage in the district.

The demonstrators also threatened to call Dhenkanal bandh if TPCODL fails to address the power outage in the district. The protest was later called off after TPCODL executive engineer assured of an uninterrupted power supply.

BJP activists also staged demonstration before the Tata Power office in Balasore’s Soro protesting the power outage in the area.