Jharkhand Bijli Vitran Nigam (JBVNL), the state’s largest power distribution company, is working to ensure uninterrupted power supply at pandals in Ranchi and Jamshedpur that together hold close to 400 pujas.

While the state capital will host 100 pujas, Jamshedpur will host 320 pujas this year.

In the steel city, both JBVNL and Jusco supply power to pandals during the five-day festival, which beginns with Shasthi on October 4 this year.

While the Tata Steel subsidiary, which caters to maximum number of residential areas, has started distributing forms to puja organisers for applying for temporary connections, JBVNL has also started the process, involving sub-divisional officers and junior engineers in areas under its jurisdiction.

“Each pandal seeking a temporary connection would have to deposit Rs 4,000 as security money,” said Subrato Banerjee, a JBVNL sub-divisional officer (SDO) of Bundu in Ranchi.

He said there are 20 major pujas in the state capital, including at Ratu Road, Kokar, Morabadi and Pahari Mandir. These pujas will be requiring 70KW to 80KW power daily during the five festival days.

“The state load despatch centre has been requested to ensure 200MW at the Namkum grid substation and another 100MW at the Hatia grid sub-station which will help to meet the demand during Puja days,” he said, adding that they would try to ensure uninterrupted power during the festival.

The weather will also play a key role in determining power demand during the five festival days.

The southwest monsoon has so far not shown signs of withdrawal which means the season will be prolonged in Jharkhand.

Usually, monsoon withdraws from Jharkhand by October 10, but this year, it is likely to overstay.

“Power demand is expected to remain constant despite the addition of around seven pujas in Jamshedpur. Since the festival is being held in the first week of October we are expecting low air-conditioner use in some of the big budget pujas as the weather is expected to be less warm,” said Sanjay Mahto, a JBVNL junior engineer at Mango circle in Jamshedpur.

He said they were yet to get power requirements from various puja committees.

“Usually, pandals under our jurisdiction in Mango and other areas require between 3KW to 20KW per day. We have started strengthening our infrastructure so as to prevent outages and power loss,” said Mahto.

He added that they were appealing to puja organisers to use LED bulbs to ensure low power consumption.

Jamshedpur Durga Puja Kendriya Samiti, the apex body that monitors pujas in the steel city, has appealed to organisers not to indulge in power pilferage.