Power supply to Ara town remains erratic

Kuma Rajiv Nayan

Ara: Long power cuts and humidity have made life terrible for the residents of Ara, the Bhojpur district headquarters,  for the last one week and they are contemplating to launch an aggressive agitation register their protest. The Ara residents are spending restless day and sleepless nights due to erratic power supply for the past one week. Power consumers are on an average getting power for 10 to 12 hours a day for the last one week. Educational institutions, domestic consumers, commercial establishments and hospitals have been hit by the power crisis.

According to report, load shedding occurs in Ara town for about eight to ten hours besides frequent tripping and breakdown of power supply during the remaining period. The situation is worsening with each passing day mocking at the tall claims of the Bihar CM Nitish Kumar of 24X7 power supply at the district headquarters.

The officials of  South Bihar Power Distribution Company Limited (SBPDCL) are, however, claiming improvement in the situation though they resort to long power shut down at regular interval in the name of maintenance of grid. Due to power crisis, the entire market area gets deserted early in the evening causing considerable loss to the business. On the other hand, power supply to rural areas, barring a few villages, remains uninterrupted. Owing to persistent power crisis, tubewells and flour mills have become virtually defunct.It may be mentioned here that whenever a complaint is made to the officials concerned regarding disruption in power supply, they remain indifferent. Again, power theft is rampant in Bhojpur district. The consumers throw hooks onto the supply wire leading to overloading, fluctuation and low voltage.

The SBPDCL had announced shut down for only four hours i.e. from 9am to 1pm on June 21 for maintenance of power grid but power supply in the Bhojpur district headquarters, Ara, has remained disturbed.