Public RelationsNaxalites attack at Balimela disrupts power supply
The power supply in the state was disrupted when around 20 armed Naxalites attacked Balimela hydro power station in south Orissa on Saturday night damaging its Valve House and thus affecting generation at the station.
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The left wing ultras allegedly damaged the intake tunnel of the power station located about 70 km from Malkanagiri, the district head quarter town.
The power unit is run by the state owned Orissa Hydro Power Corporation (OHPC). A high level engineer team of the OHPC on Sunday rushed to the spot to assess the situation and restore power generation.
Police said the Naxalite activists overpowered the security persons deployed in the unit and ransacked the Valve House located atop a hill and set fire to some of the machineries, causing extensive damage to the machines.
They have also damaged the intake tunnel through which water was flowing inside, crippling the power generation at the unit, the superintendent of the police Malkanagiri Satyabrata Bhoi said.
They however did not hurt any person on duty at the station during the attack.
The project, with a total capacity of 510 Mw, was generating 360 Mw at present due to the low water level in the reservoir.
This was for the first time the CPI-ML activists targeted a hydro power generation unit in the state, although they had raided the Panchapatamali mines of the National Aluminium Corporation (Nalco) at Damanjodi in Koraput district early this year, which claimed 11 lives.
The red-rebels, the sources said, put up several posters and banners warning the state government and police not to supply power to the big industrial houses and the rich persons in the area.
Meanwhile the additional security forces have rushed to the spot and police have launched massive combing operation to trace the left-wing ultras, the sources said.