Frequent power interruptions make life difficult for Aldona residents

the goan I networkrMAPUSAr rPower disruptions have become the order of the day in Aldona and off late the frequency of power failures have shot up. rOn Wednesday evening, there was no power in many parts of Aldona for almost five hours. In many areas, power supply which suddenly went off at around 5 pm was restored only well past 9.30 pm. rNachinola, Aldona, Corjuem, Pomburpa, Bastora, etc, faced the brunt of the power failure inconveniencing locals in the area. r“Power which went off at around 4 pm was restored only after 10 pm. Since we were organizing a small function in our house, the sudden interruption put us in a very difficult spot,” said a local from Corjuem. rThere were similar complaints from different parts of Aldona some even bad mouthing the department officials for the power cuts. rThe electricity department engineer admitted there was a major fault in the feeder line which led to sudden tripping of power in Aldona and other areas. r“The Porvorim power line feeding the Nachinola sub-station was faulty. There was also a problem with the DC (Direct Control) panel at the sub-station. The time to locate the fault caused some delay in restoration of power,” said Chandrakant Aroskar, Assistant Engineer, Electricity Department, Aldona. rConsidering Wednesday’s problem as a one off problem, power failures and fluctuations have become very common in Aldona. rThere are instances when local residents experience at least 20 to 30 power interruptions during the day. r“Power disruptions have become the order of the day in Aldona. Luckily, I have an inverter at home and at my place of work so I am not affected. But I can understand the plight of a common man having to face so many interruptions,” exclaimed Savio Figueiredo, a resident of Aldona. rStudents at St Thomas Girls High School in Aldona have had to face the worst due to the constant power failure. r“Can you imagine at least 15 to 20 times the power goes off in a day in the school? Students who operate computers are at the receiving end due to such power failures,” said Luis Pinto, a parent and a resident of Corjuem. rCoincidentally, the electricity department has arranged a power shutdown in Aldona from 9 am to noon on June 30. r“I am new in this area having joined just a month ago and wouldn’t like to pass the buck. There are a few problems but I am working to put things in place at the sub-station,” AE Aroskar said.