JAGATSINGHPUR: Once bitten, twice shy? Not for the administration of Jagatsinghpur which is yet to learn the lessons from recurrent cyclones that have battered the district in the last several decades.  
Four days after cyclone Amphan, many affected villages continue to live in darkness and without drinking water, the reason being defunct solar street lights and power plants.  After the Super Cyclone in 1999, the State Government had decided to install solar plants and street lights in the district to tap the alternative source of energy and use it to light up villages and provide drinking water after natural calamities. Subsequently, hundreds of solar street lights and plants were installed in the district.  

The Panchayati Raj department and Odisha Renewable Energy Development Agency (OREDA) installed 800 solar street lights and 2.5 MW power plants in Erasama, Kujang, Tirtol, Raghunathpur, Naugaon and Biridi blocks which often bear the brunt of cyclones and floods. While OREDA installed 164 solar street lights in Naugaon, the Panchayati Raj department put up the rest. Besides, a 10 MW solar power plant was installed at the collectorate. Each panchayat got at least 8 to 10 solar street lights. A private firm was roped in for the work by the BDOs concerned.

Sources said a majority of the 2.5 MW power plants, installed by OREDA in 76 panchayats to run pump sets for supplying drinking water, do not have battery back up which is essential to store energy. Usually, a solar power plant comprising a bank of solar panels receiving solar energy which is converted into DC electric power and fed to a battery.  The DC power is converted to AC power by means of an inverter and the AC output feed the mains from where various applications draw electric power. 

Locals alleged that soon after installation, many of the street lights failed to operate due to use of substandard materials by the private firm in absence of any monitoring by the BDOs. And without batteries, the power plants are of no use. Sarpanch of Piteipur under Jagatsinghpur block Sk Ansar Ali said eight solar street lights were installed in his panchayat five years back and none of them are functional. “We informed the block officials to repair them but they cited non-availability of spare parts,” he said.

Had the solar plants been operational, villagers could have got drinking water now, said panchayat samiti member of Biritol Bijayani Mallick. Deputy Director of OREDA Panchanan Tripathy, who is in charge of Jagatsinghpur district, informed that during Fani last year, 17 solar power plants were damaged but later repaired. The rest are not operating due to lack of batteries. “We have engaged a team of workers to assess the condition of solar plants in different blocks and repair the defunct ones. However, we cannot repair the solar lights since it is the job of the Panchayati Raj department,” he added.