Goemkarponn desk
CANACONA – It’s been literarily 8 months since works were begun to install six new electrical transformers to do away with the low voltage problems in the coastal village of Agonda, but Electricity Department has failed to charge any even as five were installed and completed.
“Due to the insufficient transformers and low voltage problems, Agonda residents continue to suffer, while the electricity department failed to energize newly installed transformers”, informed Agonda Sarpanch Badal Naikgaunkar.
Stating categorically that inspite of all the odds Agonda panchayat and the EX-MLA facilitating the availability of land/space to accommodate the transformers in various parts of the village, Naikgaunkar blamed the Electricity department for their failure to make its use fruitfully.
Naikgaunkar also informed the Electricity department to have a policy to pay up for the land it needs to erect a transformer and stop depending on the free gift of people’s land to house the Transformer.
“We, together with our Ex-Dy Speaker and ex-Canacona MLA Isidore Fernandes, with great difficulties, made the required land available at five out of the six newly sanctioned transformers at Agonda to tide over the frequent breakdowns and low voltage problems,” he said. Somehow, at one of the most important locations on coastal areas, the localized people neither agreed on a community land nor any private lands, even though the residents who are heavily involved in Tourism trades, themselves and their establishment suffer low voltage problems refused to part with a land piece to set up Transformer.
“At all other five locations, the set-up for transformer installation is complete only awaiting its actual installation and energization”, Naikgaunkar.
According to sources, the fixing of poles and empty boxes and other related equipment works were first begun in October last year and were completed by January month this year, but the Electricity department did nothing to mount the required Transformers till date at five of the available locations.
“Agonda as of now suffers badly due to frequent and prolonged power outages, and we fail to understand why the electricity department doesn’t energize the readied transformers, even as our new MLA and Speaker of Goa Legislative Assembly is stating urgent electricity, road and Water-supply works will be completed before the onset of monsoon”, he said.
Meanwhile, Agonda Sarpanch Badal Naikgaunkar informed that the much-delayed pre-monsoon works of cleaning the roadside gutters, nullahs and other related works to avoid waterlogging on roads and cutting of bushes began on Saturday. “These works could not be started earlier due to non-availability of labour, but as the rains have hit much before the onset of monsoon, we have made alternate arrangements and works are taken from Saturday on war-footing that not much inconvenience is caused to anyone,” he said.
