PANJIM: Siddesh Bhagat, sarpanch of Aquem Baixo Village Panchayat blamed the concerned authorities for the continuous power failures that are being experienced in his village much to the irritation of the people. 

“A breakdown now and then is understandable but this is happening repeatedly,” he pointed out.

Rejecting Power Minister Nilesh Cabral’s explanation that the breakdown was because there was no maintenance done on Karnataka side for about 40 km, he asked whose responsibility is it to look after the maintenance, the department’s or the public.

He said the Goa government should have taken up the matter with Karnataka authorities before the monsoons to ensure that they do the maintenance of power lines in their territory and lamented that while the power charges keep increasing the service provided to the consumer is depleting.