Anu Choudhury in Bijuli Didi campaign

A public awareness campaign to save electricity was launched by the electricity distribution companies (Discoms) CESU, Nesco, Wesco and Southco and all the franchisees working in the CESU area.

Actress Anu Choudhury who is the brand ambassador of the campaign, will play the role of Bijuli Didi to awaken masses on the need for conserving electricity.

The campaign was necessitated as it was found that while the all-India average transmission and distribution (T&D) loss is 26 per cent, in Odisha it is around 40 per cent. Apart from the technical loss, power theft happens to be the biggest stumbling block in the region.

Sources said that one per cent T&D loss costs Rs 80 crore to the state’s power sector. The distribution companies in Odisha are facing one of the highest levels of T&D loss in the country that is estimated at Rs 1,760 crore per year.

Orissa Electricity Regulatory Commission (OERC) chairman S P Nanda, energy secretary P K Jena and GRIDCO and OPTCL chairman-cum-managing director Hemant Sharma were present at the inaugural event. Director Nila Madhab Panda was also present at the campaign.

Jena said Discoms incur a loss of around 40 per cent of its revenue owing to non-payment of bills and power thefts each year. “Awareness campaigns are welcome efforts as they educate people about the importance of electricity,” he added.

The campaign will also be launched through hoardings and audio-visual material.

To launch the campaign, the sponsors had roped in well-known actor-cum-comedian Tatwaprakash Satpathy, popularly called Papu Pam Pam. Children of Cuttack-based Dance Academy.