Today, On 29th May, Lawyers protested on Agartala streets against power cuts affecting judges’ offices and subsidiary courts. The demonstration aimed to highlight the disruption of judicial activities. The protest called off after authorities assured the restoration of power. This assurance brought a temporary resolution to the issue.
Agartala: Lawyers in Agartala, On Wednesday, the capital of Tripura, took to the streets to protest the prolonged power outage in the West Tripura district and the sessions court complex. The power cut ongoing for the past two days, ever since Cyclone Remal hit Tripura on Monday night.
Despite repeated complaints, the power restoration team allegedly did not respond promptly. Frustrated by the lack of action, the agitated lawyers surrounded and detained a senior official of the Tripura State Electricity Corporation Ltd (TSECL) within the court premises for about an hour. They demanded that the power supply be restored immediately.
The incident highlights the impact of the cyclone on the region’s infrastructure and the challenges faced by the authorities in restoring essential services in a timely manner. The lawyers’ protest a response to the prolonged disruption in power supply, which significantly affected the functioning of the court and the daily lives of the local residents.
After receiving assurance from Power Minister Ratan Lal Nath regarding timely action, the agitation called off.
Protesting lawyers stated,
“Legal proceedings in the West Tripura district and sessions court, along with other subordinate courts, were severely impacted on Tuesday due to a power outage since the previous night. The electricity supply continued to be disrupted today. Numerous critical cases remain unheard, and the offices of judges couldn’t operate smoothly due to prolonged power interruptions,”
Reportedly, there has been a lack of response from Tripura State Electricity Corporation Ltd (TSECL) offices across the state. The toll-free number disconnected, and other contact numbers remained unanswered for the past two days. TSECL call offices in villages closed to avoid public backlash.
Meanwhile, the opposition Congress staged a demonstration in front of TSECL headquarters, demanding the resignation of Power Minister Nath and immediate restoration of power supply. They accused the minister and his associates of outsourcing consumer services to ineffective external parties, which the department has failed to address.
President of the Congress party in the state, Ashis Kumar Saha, accused,
“Upon taking office, former Chief Minister Biplab Kumar Deb promptly outsourced power services to private companies, resulting in the once-profitable TSECL plummeting into financial hardship over the past six years. Presently, these companies are in the midst of ceasing operations in Tripura due to TSECL’s limited funds, leading to inadequate handling of complaints, with the minister’s support,”
According to Ratan Lal Nath, the state power minister, the officials of Tripura State Electricity Corporation Limited (TSECL) and the staff of outsourced power restoration agencies have been working tirelessly since Monday night, even during the worst weather conditions. However, the damages caused by the storm, so extensive and widespread that they could not manage the restoration efforts immediately.
Nath explained that the power infrastructure suffered severe damage, with power lines being snapped, transformers being damaged, and the entire system collapsing in many places due to lightning strikes. The initial assessment revealed that the storm, named Remal, caused damage to the electricity infrastructure worth over Rs 2.5 crore.
Furthermore, the power department received more than 2,000 complaints from affected consumers, and more than half of them have been resolved so far. The storm destroyed 668 electric poles, left 234 km of lines powerless, damaged wires, and caused 82 transformers to malfunction.
Despite the relentless efforts of the power department staff, the scale of the damage, so extensive that it took time to fully restore the electricity supply across the affected areas.
The minister noted,
“During May, there was a significant surge in power demand in the outskirts of Agartala, attributed to the intense heat waves experienced this year. The widespread adoption of air conditioning units in households increased without prior notification to the power department. Consequently, this surge led to escalated power consumption, resulting in damage to power transformers and transmission lines. Additionally, unforeseen storms and lightning further exacerbated the fragility and vulnerability of the system.”
Meanwhile, the leader of the opposition and senior CPI-M figure, Jitendra Chaudhury, accused the BJP administration of overseeing the systematic plundering of the lucrative assets of TSECL by party cadres. He alleges that in order to safeguard their interests, the BJP outsourced TSECL services to external private companies.
Chaudhury emphasized,
“The Left Front carefully constructed the TSECL asset amidst numerous challenges over a span of two decades, only to see it depleted now. The absence of recruitment at the lower levels for the past six years has led to the hardships we face today.”
Amidst the persistent challenges posed by the frequent power cuts, Agartala’s lawyers stood united, advocating for sustainable solutions to ensure the smooth functioning of the judicial system. Their collective action highlighted the pressing need for reliable infrastructure to uphold the integrity and efficiency of legal proceedings in the region.