NESHWIN ALMEIDA
neshwin@herald-goa.com
While incessant rain continues in Goa, motorists struggle with visibility through the sheets of rain and pedestrians strain their eyes to avoid dug roads, broken pavements and open gutters. But in the midst of that mess, it’s total darkness on the streets of Margao and Fatorda and the MMC and the Electricity Department are stuck playing a blame game instead of sorting this mess and bringing some light to the residents.
“Expensive, high mast CFL and LED fixtures are placed all over Fatorda with underground cabling but the lanes and bylanes and even the main road in Fatorda and Borda is in darkness. It’s embarrassing for me as councilor to tell people we don’t have a solution to it and we can’t provide repairs and maintenance for the same,” explains Ward 10 councilor Tito Cardozo in disgust and embarrassment when cornered as to why Borda’s streets are in darkness and. People demanded a day and date as to when the streetlights would be fixed.
Similarly, another councilor informs us that the Electricity Department which is the keeper of all maintenance work of street lights and live wires gives the Margao Municipality an excuse that MCBs, chokes, bulbs, wires and other equipment is out of stock and hence no maintenance can be carried out.
“It’s surprising that we raise the concern of dark streets and the problem of safety during monsoons and even the problem of anti-social elements and thefts but the electricity department has the audacity to ask us to purchase electrical equipment and provide them for maintenance because they’re out of stock. We’re helpless and it is a fact that our councilors face the wrath of the residents first. We took a council decision and we’re now spending our own money to purchase repair material and will be fixing the street lights soon,” explained stand in Chief Officer for the MMC, Y B Tawde.
Assistant Engineer for Margao and Fatorda, Rajendra Sawant explains to us that the electricity department underwent an upgrade in Margao, Aquem, Borda and Fatorda and over the last two years replaced all tube lights and bulbs in the street lights with power efficient CFLs and LED bulbs.
“Now these are not in stock with the electricity department and we’re unable to service them or maintain them. Until stocks come or until we have the funds to replace these, we’re installing makeshift tube lights on our existing poles on a lower level at least to temporarily dispel the darkness but the incessant rainfall is disrupting this effort,” stated Sawant who accepts the inefficiency of his department.
Meanwhile, after the ceremony of launching LED bulbs available to the public at subsidized rates and boasting of hosting the National Power Minister’s meet while also shamed for a duplicate LED bulb raid at the Margao Power House offices, Power Minister Milind Naik had a different angle to this problem but not anything that would aid in eliminating the streets of Margao.
“The A E of Margao has never applied for any spares or electrical equipment to the head office in Panjim. We have enough stock of chokes and bulbs lying in our stores which the MMC or the Electricity Department is free to collect. So I am surprised that people of Margao are in darkness due to non-maintenance work ahead of the monsoons,” asserted an angry Naik.
