Team Herald
CARMONA: Following a representation made to the Power Minister Nilesh Cabral, a meeting was held recently between the Carmona village panchayat and the electricity officials, Executive Engineer Rajendra Sawant and Assistant Engineer Nicholas Moraes to sort out the Carmona power woes.
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In this memorandum, the Carmona Sarpanch Allwyn Jorge stressed upon the inadequate power department personnel such as the two linesmen deputed for active duty ‘being unable to cater to line faults and breakdowns especially when multiple faults arise at the same time.’
Further he stated that ‘due to inadequate line staff, no planned maintenance is done or the maintenance of the streetlights is not carried out in spite of this office issuing the NOC for the Power Minister’s Streetlight policy.’
However, EE Sawant told Herald that he had convened a meeting and will now submit a proposal for additional staff to his superiors based on the retirements in the Electricity Department.
Carmona resident and president of the Carmona Villagers Social Welfare Forum (CVSWF) Soccorro Miranda told Herald that “Carmona received electricity in the mid-seventies and the old lines are now weak as they haven’t been replaced.”
Former Carmona sarpanch Savita Mascarenhas said that “the public grievances received from the villagers are regarding power supply woes as the linesmen deputed are inadequate to cater to the power supply problems.”
“Existing poles are damaged and cracked. Conductors are overstretched, fittings have outlived their life expectancy causing frequent faults, power failures and equipment failures especially in areas of Olvaddo, Igreja, Xiro and Tambdeg, etc as such existing 220 volts distribution network needs to be renovated on a priority basis. Complaints are received from the villagers regarding high and low voltage. Lots of broken poles are lying all over the village roads that need to be taken away as they pose a threat to public safety. Pruning of tree branches touching power lines needs to be undertaken in all wards. Execution of various panchayat paid up proposals for renovation and extension on street lights are pending execution and issuing work orders,” the sarpanch said further.
“If no action is initiated, we will be forced to consider temporarily stop issuing any construction licences to multi-dwelling units in the village or issue them electrical NOC solely due to the precarious situation of the electricity power supply concerning Carmona,” Jorge said.
“During the monsoons, the trees fall on these low lying wires that immediately snap resulting in power failures. Also the infrastructure such as the isolators and conductors are very old and need to be immediately replaced,” Miranda added.
Another former sarpanch seeking anonymity admitted that the Olvaddo and other wards of the village face regular power outages.
Jorge told Herald that “during the meeting, the EE promised to sanction one additional linesman for the village. A list will also be submitted of all the non-functional LED lights to the department with a register maintained at the panchayat. An estimate of Rs 5.69 crore has been prepared and is now at the SE office for processing.”
