Preparedness of TPCODL for possible flood in Odisha

Bhubaneswar: As per the Odisha Special Relief Commissioner’s (SRC) report, a low to medium range flood from the Mahanandi river system is expected to hit the state.

After this announcement, TPCODL immediately identified the areas which are expected to be impacted by the severe floods, well in advance. TPCODL has a detailed Business Continuity and Disaster Management Plan (BCDMP) in place for dealing with this flood.

Under this, a structured approach is defined covering preventive measures, defined roles and responsibility for disaster management and plans for arranging required material/machinery in case of exigency.

The 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.

A mock drill for checking the response of the plan is also being conducted. The ongoing Covid-19 pandemic has made it more important to restore power supply as it can affect patients who are under treatment. TPCODL is always in a state of readiness to respond to any contingencies and is all set to address customer’s requirement for power supply.

Understanding the need of the hour, TPCODL has formed dedicated teams to ensure 24×7 power supply to oxygen plants. Dedicated quick response teams have been strategically placed at various locations across the licensed areas. One can call our 24×7 call centre toll free number 1912 or 18003457122 for any emergency service.

As a safety measure, TPCODL requests everyone in the affected areas not to do the following:

•          Do not touch any wires or plumbing inside a building during lightning strikes as telephone lines/metal pipes can conduct electricity

•          Do not take shelter beneath tree/any temporary structure in case of heavy wind, thunderstorm and downpour

•          Do not touch any Electrical installations with wet hands or without using hand gloves, safety shoes or insulated platform

•          Do not allow children to play near storm drains after rainfall

Speaking on the initiative, M Shenbagam, CEO, TPCODL said, “We are well prepared to mitigate the risk of flood and are committed towards ensuring uninterrupted power supply. Our team is working relentlessly to provide uninterrupted power supply to the affected areas within record time and ensure that customers are least affected. We appeal the public at large to adhere to necessary safety measures in order to avoid any accidents during this flood.”

TPCODL Team is working round the clock to restore power supply in phase manner with safety and caution. 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. Special teams will be operative for making the power supply to hospitals and oxygen plants.