Powerless' to make light of dark problem

It was touted to be Bengal's answer to Gurgaon, but the biggest ever satellite township project in the country is powerless literally against the glitzy Haryana precinct. Rajarhat may boast a number of glitzy apartments and highrises, but a number of them, unbelievably, still have no access to electricity supply.
The housing complexes surrounding City Centre-II at Rajarhat's Action Area-III did not have any power supply to start with.The handful of residents who had started staying there had to use lanterns after nightfall. A year and a half ago, when City Centre-II came up, the Hidco authorities managed to supply power to these housing complexes to avoid embarrassment, but there is still no regular supply in a lot of areas in Action Area-II and III.
"There are still some flats where electricity is yet to reach," said a resident of Bengal DCL complex, where power connection was provided only a year and a half ago. "This is one of the many reasons why many flatowners are still to shift here."
Rajarhat New Town has been recognised by the Centre as one of the eight satellite townships of the country. However, one of the major areas of concern for the Hidco authorities is to provide power to all the Action Areas.
The problem lies in the ongoing agitation by the Trinamool Congress over installing four high-tension transmission towers at Chhapna mouza. The Trinamool-backed Krisi Jomi o Jibika Bachao committee has been complaining that Hidco has been trying to forcefully acquire the land for the project. On the other hand, Hidco has been repeatedly declaring that it had acquired the land long back.
Until the towers are erected, power connection simply cannot be provided to a large area in Action Area-II, where several important IT offices such as Wipro and IBM's second campus, the first Infosys office, hospitals such as the Tata Cancer Hospital and other residential and commercial complexes are coming up.
Under the present circumstances, Hidco officials can only hope for the stalemate to end soon. "We had acquired the land in 2006 and paid the district collector Rs 7.5 crore as compensation. Power supply to a huge area depends on these towers that will connect the 132-KV sub-station with the 220-KV sub-station at Akandakeshori mouza," an official said.
Hidco is also looking at alternative options, like power from renewable energy. "The plan is to frame a green power concept for the township so that renewable energies could be developed," an official said.
Once the township which is slated to be three times bigger than neighbouring Salt Lake comes up, there will be a huge demand for power. With a population of about 20 lakh, including a floating population of more than five lakh, and a business and financial hub that will include several IT and other office and commercial complexes apart from the numerous malls and multiplexes that are already coming up scheduled to come up, the demand for electricity will be huge. Taking into account the present power scenario of the state, there will be a huge power deficit if alternative arrangements are not made.