SUNDAY, JUNE 16, 2024
It’s more than two decades since Goa became the first state in the country in December 2003 under the leadership of then Power Minister Digambar Kamat to receive the green signal for an underground cabling project - initially to begin with in Panjim and Margao with an allocated fund then of Rs 67 crore under the Accelerated Power and Reform Development Programme (APRDP). Even after two decades, the underground cabling works are far from completion. The present Power Minister, Ramkrishna ‘Sudin’ Dhavalikar, has once again pushed the deadline to complete the works by another two years. The project execution across the State is estimated to cost a whopping Rs 3,500 crore.
While plans seem to be fine, the red-tapism ensures that projects do not take off quickly, and by the time they reach actual completion, three-four decades have already passed by, putting the process in a loop of a vicious cycle of redundant technology by the time of completion. The Aerial Bunched Cable (ABC) perhaps is a glaring example of redundant technology which the department engineers had termed a project “implemented without applying mind”.
The ambitious ABC project in the State, laid at an estimated cost of Rs 145 crore, turned into a white elephant for the Electricity Department within three years of its implementation. The work on aerial bunched cabling began in 2017, to resolve the issue of frequent power supply failure in remote areas, especially in forest areas, due to falling trees on main lines during the monsoon. The State government had installed ABC in areas where underground cabling was not possible due to the lack of land. Under the pilot project, it would cover 1,000 kms of 11 KV power supply. The Department was also going to shift or replace 20,000 poles, however, it slowly stopped replacing the aerial bunched cables in many areas with old conductors. Dhavalikar has said that the inquiry by a three-member committee was still on into the alleged scam. The ABC project was proposed and began execution under the leadership of former Mormugao MLA Milind Naik as power minister.
During the last three decades under different schemes, the Goa Government has spent crores of rupees - from providing LED bulbs to every household to erecting LED street lights across the State and installing digital meters, etc. The government should come out with a white paper onthe financial audit and consumer benefit of the infrastructure investment in the Electricity Department and set accountability for the failures in accomplishing the desired results despite the enormous public funds spent at providing uninterrupted power supply.
On the human resource front, the death of a lineman Manoj Zambaulikar in Bicholim in April this year, sent shockwaves across the State. Goa has witnessed an alarming number of deaths of linemen in the last five years. From January 1, 2019, until April this year, 15 linemen died while on duty. Five deaths were recorded in 2023 alone.
The government has been accused of giving lip service to the safety of linemen and a nominal compensation to the family of the deceased. Time and again there have been demands to make the high-tension powerline repairs safe for the linemen, but apparently nothing has changed. On Tuesday, May 21, Chief Electrical Engineer (CEE) Stephen Fernandes emphasised that the haste in blaming the Electricity Department without understanding the circumstances was unfair.
The CEE asserted that if the lineman does not use the safety kit provided by the department then the officials, the electricity department and the government cannot be held responsible for the death of the lineman on duty. He emphasised that the department could be blamed for the death of the personnel if the safety kit was not provided to the employees. However, the question arises whether there is a protocol for the employees to follow while on duty and executing repair works. If there is a protocol, then who is responsible for ensuring that the protocol is followed? If the protocol is not followed, what action is initiated against the employee? A lineman is not alone while undertaking repair work and is accountable to a line of command which begins with the site supervisor and ends at the office of the CEE. Employees should not be allowed to shirk the safety protocol.
In Zambaulikar’s incident, as pointed out by the CEE, it is the policy paralysis, since there is ambiguity on the use of gensets and seeking permissions from the department. In addition, the death of Zambaulikar was also due to the lack of safety measures undertaken while executing the repair works. Hence, it is prudent that irrespective of the kind of work, safety measures are prioritised and those shying away from using safety gear should be reprimanded. Every personnel lost is a loss to the family and a blot on the canvas of the department which is one of the prominent public service departments of the government.
