PONDA: Two wards of Dhavalim, in Kavlem Village Panchayat, were plunged into darkness till late night after the labourers of the sewerage contractor damaged the underground power cables supplying electricity to Dhavalim. Furious locals blamed the sewerage contractor for damaging cable and not informing the power department.
The incident took place at 4 pm when workers were excavating the earth for sewerage work when the excavating machinery damaged the underground power cables along the Dhavalim bypass highway near the service road. Unaware about the damages caused to the power cable the sewerage workers left the spot. The locals at first thought it might be a temporary breakdown of power but as evening fell, they rushed to Satyanarayan Temple junction where the power cables were damaged. However, it was too late.
The Executive Engineer Sudan Cucolienkar and local Panch member rushed to spot at nightfall and directed the electricity department workers to restore power. The work continued till late night. It is learnt that the officials were searching for the damaged cables and there after the power supply would be restored. Since their village was plunged into darkness the villagers camped at site insisting that the authorities restore the power supply.
Locals said with no proper planning and no idea about the location of the underground power cables has led to a chaotic situation and this may be repeated in the future causing hardships to locals. Locals said officials should supervise the work of digging by the contractor’s labour force.
