Team Herald
PANJIM/QUEPEM: Responding to criticism over the lengthy and massive power blackout in various parts of Goa for several consecutive days, Power Minister Nilesh Cabral said that one needs to take into consideration the unprecedented damage caused to the power infrastructure in the State due to Cylcone Tauktae.
Cabral elaborated on the scale of the devastation caused by the natural disaster that wreaked havoc to overhead cables, electric poles, towers, transformers etc across the State.
Pointing out that a report on the extent of the losses suffered has been submitted to the State government, Cabral added that he has been monitoring the situation 24/7 ever since the cyclone struck Goa.
He added that such types of cyclones have damaged other countries as well and that even America has been through a similar situation where there also, restoration work took some time.
He also said it is important to note that the Power Department had to deal with several obstacles while carrying out repair work such as access due to the number of fallen trees etc.
“Yes it is not easy. We cannot use the crane in some places because it’s a hilly area and the village roads are narrow. In such places, only manpower can be used. Due to the pandemic situation, there is shortage of staff as well but still we managed to restore the situation with our resources,” Cabral said.
“I really appreciate the staff of our Electricity Department who have worked hard non-stop, day and night. Yes there are some places that took time but we tried to sort it out as quickly as possible,” Cabral added.
Villages like Anjuna- Caisua were amongst the worst affected places, having to endure no power for five days. Cabral attributed these delays to the nature of the damage in corresponding areas that took time for the power to be restored.
The Minister also hit out at Waste Management Minister Michael Lobo’s disparaging comments against the performance of the Electricity Department and said Lobo should instead concentrate on the garbage related problems that have yet to be resolved by his department.
