Residents of Coldem-Navelim on Friday again staged a protest out side the Electricity Depart ment office at Aquem over the delay in installation of a new transformer in the area and warned of a public agitation if the work is not completed within 25 days. Residents from Coldem, along with advocate Pra tima Coutinho, protested outside the office for the second consecutive day, al leging that the department had ignored severe power problems in the locality for the past two years despite repeated complaints.
On Thursday, they had issued a one-day ultimatum to the administration. As protesters marched to the office on Friday after noon, Margao Police per sonnel maintained security and prevented them from entering the premises. Res idents said an alternative site for the transformer had already been identi fied and submitted to the department, but the pro cess remained stalled. They also alleged that electricity officials were not respond ing to phone calls or com plaints. The protesters said it was unfortunate that residents had to struggle for two years over a basic necessi ty such as electricity and claimed that officials were now citing lack of funds for the delay despite repeated discussions with engineers. After being stopped from entering the office, resi dents raised slogans out side the premises. Later, Assistant Engineer Sharad Naik met the protesters and informed them that he had visited the Electricity Department headquarters in Panjim earlier in the day and shared all relevant de tails of the project with Adv Pratima Coutinho and the residents.
If you enjoyed reading this article, you can help support our journalism by adding OHeraldo as a preferred source.
Naik said discussions had already been held with Chief Engineer Stephen Fernandes, who assured that the work order for the transformer project would be issued at the earliest. He said that once the work order is issued, the instal lation process would be gin and the work would be completed within 15 to 20 days, including foundation work, transformer installa tion and fencing. When protesters ques tioned what would happen if the work was not com pleted within 25 days, Naik stated that issuing the work order was beyond his au thority, leading to further heated exchanges between residents and officials. Later, Adv Pratima Coutinho said Chief Engi neer Stephen Fernandes had assured that the work order would be issued within the next week, af ter which the transformer would be installed within 15 to 20 days. She warned that if the work is not com pleted by June 22, residents of Navelim would launch a larger public agitation.
