MARGAO: A voltage spike caused a major fire at a house in Davorlim on Friday, resulting in loss of properties worth over Rs 6 lakh.
According to locals, at least 25 houses in the neighbourhood experienced a voltage spike in the afternoon, which resulted in wiring or entire electronics getting burnt. In the house of Chandrakant Shirodkar, the spike reportedly caused the TV to catch fire, which later gutted the whole house and destroyed gold, cash, and almost all appliances.
Fire personnel later removed three LPG cylinders in the house and reportedly saved property worth over Rs 9 lakh.
Meanwhile, the electricity department has come under severe criticism from the locals.
The locals have informed that some youth from the neighbourhood had gone to the electricity office at the Davorlim panchayat to inform about the incident, but nobody was available.
“I had gone to the electricity office to complain; I got a reply that all have gone for lunch and will return only at 3 pm. By the time I returned home, this house was up in flames,” said Pankaj Salgaonkar.
A local woman stated that the electricity officials had admitted to receiving complaints that the voltage spiked to as high as 440 volts. She also said that the officials had made a mockery of the situation and added that they take four days to respond to a simple complaint of non-functional streetlights.
