People protest power cuts in Ganjam

BERHAMPUR: Residents of Tarsingi panchayat staged a demonstration in front of the forest range office on Friday against ‘unscheduled power cuts’, especially during exams. The forest department had ordered electricity supply be restricted to protect elephants, who are nearby, from being electrocuted.
“At least 25 elephants (16 in Jagannath Prasad and nine in Tarsingi areas) are moving around the 8km radius of Jagannath Prasad and Tarasingi forest ranges. The herds have got divided into groups and they are now roaming in vulnerable areas,” Sudarshan Behera, divisional forest officer (Ghumusar north), said.
“We have asked the engineers of the electric department to restrict supply until the elephants move to a safer area,” Behera said. “We snapped power supply from Tilisingi section on Friday evening following forest department’s instruction,” J D Mohapatra, executive engineer (Bhanjanagar division) of TPSODL, said.