TEAM HERALD
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PORVORIM: If you happen to live in Aldona, be prepared to invest in a power inverter, emergency lights or a large stock of candles, depending on your level of income.
Irked over frequent power outages since the last few days, residents of Aldona have claimed that there have been five major power shutdowns in the village since the last 45 days.
“The electricity department undertook a power shutdown recently and there was no power supply in Aldona from 9.30 am till evening. This is the fifth power shutdown in the last 45 days. Electrical appliances get damaged due to frequent disruption of power supply,” complained a resident.
The residents are also annoyed over the indifferent attitude of the staff at the electricity office in Gawar-Aldona.
“Whenever we approach the engineer at Gawar to enquire about the power outage, we don’t get a satisfactory reply and the staff tends to be abusive,” said the resident.
When contacted, Assistant Engineer Harish Raiker sought to explain the reasons for the frequent power outages in Aldona.
“The Nachinola substation had undertaken a power shutdown on Tuesday, due to which there was no power supply to Aldona. The Tivim power station provides 33 KV power supply to the Nachinola substation, from where power is stepped down to 11 KV and is supplied to the villages of Aldona, Pomburpa and Bastora,” informed Raiker.
“Even if maintenance work is undertaken by the Tivim power station or if a major fault develops at the Tivim station, then there is no power supply to Aldona,” he said.
“Besides, there are a lot of trees in Aldona and though the road distance from Nachinola to Aldona is short, the actual distance of the power line from Nachinola to Aldona is nearly 12 kms. During rains, branches fall on the power supply lines due to strong winds, thereby snapping of power supply. It is for these several reasons that there has been frequent disruptions in the power supply to Aldona,” explained Raiker.
