India News | Tata Power's Odisha Discom Prepares to Deal with Cyclone 'Yaas '

New Delhi, May 25 (PTI) Tata Power on Tuesday said its electricity distribution firm TP Northern Odisha Distribution Ltd has chalked out a detailed disaster management plan to deal with cyclone 'Yaas'.

As per the IMD report, cyclone Yaas is likely to move in districts along northern Odisha and adjoining West Bengal by the evening of May 26 and intensify into a cyclonic storm, a company statement said.

TP Northern Odisha Distribution Ltd (TPNODL) has a detailed Business Continuity and Disaster Management Plan (BCDMP) in place for dealing with this cyclone.

BCDMP entails categories of disasters based on the severity along with a corresponding action plan, a disaster management structure to systematically receive alerts for disasters, examine them, send pre-disaster alerts and devise mechanism for invoking and revoking BCDMP.

Understanding the need of the hour, TPNODL has formed dedicated teams to ensure 24x7 power supply to oxygen plants.

It has also strategically placed dedicated quick response teams at various locations across the licensed areas. A call centre toll free number is also in place for any emergency service, it added.

TPNODL has engaged with over 950 people for ‘Project CleanUp' which involved tree cutting.

It has also mobilised over 14,000 pre-stressed cement concrete (PSC) poles and over 2,900 rolled steel joist (RSJ) poles and made available conductors for 350 km.

It has arranged PPE like safety helmets, safety shoes, safety belt etc and deployed 600 manpower along with 15 engineers from nearby discoms (TPSODL & TPWODL) for TPNODL.

Teams are also trained on various safety measures during cyclone and post cyclone restoration work.

It stated that coordination between district administration and local electrical officers has been developed to expedite power supply restoration by utilisation of the ODRF/NDRF teams if required in critical cases.

“Keeping the IMD's prediction in mind, we have taken all the necessary measures and aim to ensure uninterrupted power supply, especially in these testing times of COVID-19.

"Our team is working relentlessly to ensure uninterrupted power supply. We would also like to appeal to the public to adhere to all the essential safety measures to avoid any accidents during this storm Yaas," said Bhaskar Sarkar, CEO of TPNODL.

The company has also carried out all the preventive maintenance of equipment at both distribution as well as consumer sub-stations.

Dedicated teams have been strategically placed at various nodes of the city to cater to any emergency. Adequate stock of essential spare parts, tools and equipment including transformers, switchgears, etc. has been ensured to minimize the restoration time towards power interruptions, Tata Power said.

Special teams will be operative for making the power supply to hospitals and oxygen plants, it added.

(The above story is verified and authored by Press Trust of India (PTI) staff. PTI, India’s premier news agency, employs more than 400 journalists and 500 stringers to cover almost every district and small town in India.. The views appearing in the above post do not reflect the opinions of LatestLY)