Two ‘power-less’ Balasore villages lead primitive life 

BALASORE:  The alleged apathy of the Balasore administration and the energy department in providing electricity has left two villages under Kashipur gram panchayat of Nilagiri block of the district in the dark.
Sources said around 400 residents of Ashoknala and Kelamara villages live without electricity. Since most of the families there are tribals and economically poor, they do not have the financial capacity to procure pillars and cables for power supply. 

Fearing theft and intrusion by wild animals after dark, villagers shut their doors and windows much before evenings. Meanwhile, locals who possess mobile phones, charge their devices in their neighbouring village reportedly by paying money. Few families there have also procured solar energy for the purpose.

“Absence of power supply in our villages is a serious concern. School-going children use kerosene lamps to study at night so despite financial problems, their parents have to buy kerosene which costs around `60 to `70 per litre. We get one litre kerosene per ration card but it is insufficient to be used for a month,” said locals Ghasiram Singh and Suman Singh.

The North Eastern Electricity Supply Company of Odisha (NESCO) had earlier installed pillars and transformers for supplying electricity to the villages but the contractor who was assigned the project stopped the work midway. 

“The pillars that were already installed have now bent due to poor quality work by the contractor. We had apprised the administration and the local politicians of the issue several times in the past, but to no avail. Electricity connectivity to our villages has become a distant dream now,” they lamented adding they would cast their votes in the upcoming election only after power supply is made available. 

Contacted, Nilagiri sub-collector Diptiranjan Sethy said he will discuss the issue with the authorities of Tata Power Northern Odisha Distribution Limited (TPNODL) and try to solve the matter soon.