TEAM HERALD
PORVORIM: Most parts of Porvorim, Saligao, Socorro and surrounding areas witnessed a power outage for over six hours after heavy showers and gusty winds on Monday night led to uprooting of a large number of trees and damages to electricity wires and power transformers.
An estimated 30 trees fell on electricity wires in the area, snapping off power supply to Porvorim, Britona, Saloi, Socorro, Saligao and surrounding areas for over six hours. Electricity transformers were also damaged at a few places.
The power substation at Porvorim initiated emergency restoration work at night and managed to restore power supply by Tuesday evening.
Assistant Engineer Anil Kumar and his staff toiled overnight to remove the uprooted trees and to restore power supply. Fire service teams were also deployed to cut the uprooted trees.
“During monsoon, electrical wires can get snapped due to uprooting of trees. This problem will be solved when the 11 KV lines are laid underground,” Electricity Department Assistant Engineer Anil Kumar told Herald.
“It becomes very difficult for electricity department staff to locate a fault in total darkness and especially during heavy rains. People keep complaining that their phone calls are not being attended to by the staff on duty. They would remember that the Porvorim power substation caters to about 24,000 consumers. When power supply is disrupted, most consumers simultaneously make phone calls to the electricity department office and as a result, the telephone is constantly engaged,” said Kumar.
