SURAJ NANDREKAR
PANJIM: The Electricity Department with a 5000-odd strong workforce comprising very qualified engineers and the best of equipment to handle any crisis, has no expertise in the installation and repair of high mast lamps. This may sound surprising, but it’s a fact, nevertheless.
Inquiries revealed that Goa Tourism Development Corporation, whose role is restricted to tourism related activities, is surprisingly getting involved in technical works like installation and repair of high mast lamps. As a result most of the 85-odd high mast lamps are not in working conditions.
“GTDC is carrying out the repairs of all high masts lamps in the State by replacing the existing sodium vapour and metal-halide lamps with LED at different locations, in two phases,” GTDC chairman Nilesh Cabral told Herald.
Cabral said that in the first phase 58 lamps have been replaced at a cost of Rs 4.90 cr and an additional Rs 3.14 cr contract has been awarded to Kenkre, Mapusa for maintenance for the next five years.
Second Phase contract of around Rs 2 cr has been allotted to Nanu for maintenance, he said.
“The companies will be responsible for replacement and maintenance of all 85 high masts around the State, irrespective of any reason like lightning, rain, etc, and whenever they are not working we have put a board with numbers so that people can inform the contractor,” he said.
Asked why the Electricity Department is not doing the work as technically it would have to be involved, Cabral replied, “I am told Power Department has no expertise in high masts, so we had to outsource.”
When Herald contacted Chief Electrical Engineer Nilkanth Reddy he said it was a “tedious job”. “Majority of the high mast poles are erected by GTDC and Goa Tourism. Electricity Department does not get into installation of high mast lights as the procurement cost and maintenance cost is very high. You can say that we rarely install such high masts,” Reddy said.
He said that the equipment and manpower required also is different. “It is tedious job, the lamps have a ring kind of thing which has to be brought down for repairs and again pushed in original position and since we do not have the expertise we asked them to outsource it,” he stated.
The issue of high mast lamps has come to the fore after the recent gang rape in Betalbatim beach where, taking advantage of the secluded Sunset beach three tourists from Indore raped a 20-year old girl and assaulted her boyfriend.
Taking note of that the secluded beach belt, district police chief, SP Arvind Gawas had asked Tourism Department to install high mast lamps besides other security measures.
