PANAJI
Corporation of the City of Panaji (CCP) Corporator Joel Andrade has raised serious concerns about the condition of electricity poles in the Capital City after two poles recently came crashing down on people."Recent incidents of corroded electricity poles collapsing and injuring vehicle drivers and pedestrians exposes the negligence of authorities,” said Corporator Joel Andrade.
“The State government through the electricity department should conduct regular safety audits of these poles and replace the dangerous ones. It's a matter of public safety and can cost lives, if ignored,” he demanded.
On March 16, a 16-year-old girl and her maternal uncle were grievously injured when an electricity pole came crashing down on their two-wheeler near Jogger’s Park at Altinho-Panaji.
Two days ago, a similar incident occurred at the Ribandar causeway, when an electricity lamp pole collapsed on a person, seriously injuring him.
“These two incidents have shown how dangerous these poles have become. The electricity department should immediately look into the matter,” demanded Mukund Naik, a resident.
“The electricity poles are collapsing as the poles are corroded at the bottom. The poles are designed in such a way that the protruding portion of the lamp post is on the roadside. As such, there is a maximum probability that this lamp post will collapse on the road and not on the other side of the road,” he said.
“There were incidents of electricity lamps crashing down in the past, but these incidents were not highlighted as no one was injured in these accidents,” Naik added.
