Southco draws up plan to arrest power loss in South Orissa

After initiating measures to address low-voltage problem by commissioning new transformers as well as repairing old ones, Southco, a unit of Reliance Energy and one of the power distribution companies, has drawn up a ` 492-crore plan for next four years to reduce the aggregate transmission and commercial (ATC) loss by 21 per cent. The present ATC loss in Southco is estimated at 50 per cent.

With the fund, the company seeks to reduce the loss to three per cent in the current year.

Addressing mediapersons in Berhampur recently, vice-president of Southco, Tapan Mishra, said out of the total estimated cost, the State Government will provide ` 109.33 crore as a soft loan at four per cent interest and ` 136.67 crore without interest.

The rest 246 crore will be spent by the distribution company from its own resources as matching fund. Besides reducing the ATC loss, the fund will also be utilised for improvement of power distribution system and avoid low-voltage in some parts of the distribution area.

Southco has taken responsibility to distribute power in 10 southern Orissa districts of Ganjam, Gajapati, Koraput, Rayagada, Nabarangapur, Malkanagiri, Kalahandi, Nuapada, Kandhamal and Boudh.

Due to ATC loss, distribution companies Southco, Wesco, Nesco and Cesu are riddled with various problems and the State Government is also incurring huge revenue loss.  To arrest this, the Government took a policy decision to spend around 2,400 crore. Of which the Southco would get 492 crore, said Mishra and added a sum of 61.50 crore would be spent during the current year and ` 123 crore next year.  In 2012-13 and 2013-14, ` 133.25 crore and ` 174.25 crore would be spent respectively. Mishra said the power loss was mainly due to pilferage, tampering of meters and non-payment of electricity dues.  If one per cent of ATC loss can be curbed it would save around 200 crore, he said. Under the plan, pre-paid meters would be installed in some of the urban areas besides other measures like supply of power through insulated bunch cables and installation of 11/33 KV sub-stations to address the low-voltage problem.

Source: New Indian Express  

Postal dept to open raillway ticket counters in post offices of South Orissa

Berhampur: Encouraged by good revenue collection through booking of railway tickets at the head post office at Aska in Orissa's Ganjam district, the postal authorities have proposed to the Railways to provide such facilities in 10 more post offices in southern Orissa."The railway ticket booking at Aska post office is functioning very well. We have given a proposal to the Railways to open such centers in other places in southern Orissa," Post Master General (PMG), Berhampur Region, S K Kamila said here today.The proposed places were Berhampur, Bhanjanagar, Polasara and Gopalpur in Ganjam district, Phulabani in Kandhamal district, Boudh, Damanjodi in Koraput district, Khariar in Kalahandi district and Nabarangapur.The decision would be taken after discussion with the Railways and the department of post, he said.Railway ticket booking was now available in only two post offices in Orissa, the other being at Sundargarh.The revenue collection from the Aska Head Post Office from sale of railway tickets, which was opened on September 11 was 'very satisfactory', he said.The Department of Post provided the infrastructure and manpower while the railways gave the computer connecting to its server to run the center.Despite e-ticket booking system available, every month on an average 2500 tickets were sold fetching a revenue of about Rs 25,000."The e-ticket booking system is for the elite. The general public who cannot go to a railway booking counter to book a ticket prefer to get it from post office," he said.The postal department is getting a commission of Rs 15 and Rs 10 per ticket towards booking and cancellation charges respectively.

Source: PTI

Sporting sensation Ravi Kumar strikes Gold at the CWG Delhi 2010

Berhampur erupts in jubilation

Silk city Berhampur erupted in jubilation and people came on to the streets to celebrate with fire crackers as soon as news broke about the record breaking performance of city lad Ravi Kumar at the Common Wealth Games. Despite rains, the sports lovers and his friends thronged Ravi's house at Golapalli street immediately after the news about his victory spread to congratulate his family members. Orissa Chief Minister Naveen Patnaik and Governor M C Bhandare congratulated Ravi, while the Indian Olympic Association announced a cash reward for him. Ravi has not only brought glory to the town, but entire state as well as the country, said Biswanath Patra, a former weightlifter in the town. India’s K. Ravi Kumar won the gold in the men’s 69 kg weightlifting event at the Commmonwealth Games in Delhi on wednesday, setting a new Games record in the process. Members of Veera Hanuman club of Berhampur, to which Ravi Kumar belongs, celebrated by distributing sweets and greeting the crowd. Ravi Kumar broke the Games record by lifting 321 kg (146+175) and surpassed Cameroon’s Venecelas Dabaya’s total of 310kg, achieved in the 2002 Manchester Games. It is also a new Commonwealth Championships record. The 22-year-old from Orissa was always the runaway favourite having lifted a combined 307kg to win the Commonwealth title in 2009, 22kg more than his closest rival in the field Mohammad Talib of Malaysia.