Bhopal: The administration in Satna district of Madhya Pradesh faced public backlash after the electricity supplier announced that power would be cut for 26 hours to accommodate Home Minister Rajnath Singh’s chopper landing. The recorded weather temperature on Saturday in the state had crossed 40° Celsius.
The Eastern Region Power Distribution Company (ERPDC), which supplies power to Satna and other parts of the region, published an advertisement in local newspapers on Saturday that power supply would be snapped from 4 pm on May 19 till 6 pm on May 20 as Home Minister Rajnath Singh would be arriving in the nearby town of Kothi in his chopper and the area spotted for landing had high tension supply wires nearby.
However, as soon as the news reached locals, six to eight villages began to oppose the order citing the scorching heat.
When locals approached the power distribution company’s office, staffers said their hands were tied as it was a departmental order.
A few of the villagers then handed a memorandum to both the District Collector and local MP Ganesh Singh against the order.
Following the MP’s verbal instruction, the power company decided to rescind its order and continue the supply with an alternate system.
District Collector Mukesh Shukla could not be reached for a comment on the issue.
Meanwhile, power company officials brushed off the incident as regular maintenance work and claimed that power supply was only disrupted for a couple of hours.
PL Prajapati, Junior Engineer of the ERPDC was quoted by local dailies as saying, “The power supply was disrupted for a while on Saturday because of maintenance. It and was reconnected by 6 pm.”
“It was a step taken as part of safety measures. The feeder closed by us was meant for submersible pumps. Supply in villages was restored through an alternate feeder,” said Lokesh Sahu, Executive Engineer ERPDC in Satna.
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