the goan I network
SANGUEM
A house was partially destroyed in a fire, while appliances at several houses were damaged allegedly due to high voltage at Kuinamoll ward of Sanguem town on Friday evening.
According to locals, the ward had faced a total blackout since the last three days after an electricity pole in the ward was damaged by cyclonic winds on Wednesday.
When power supply was restored on Friday afternoon, locals said they encountered high voltage which damaged their electrical appliances at about 3 pm.
The worst affected was Shridhar Shirodkar, as his refrigerator caught fire and the flames spread to three other rooms in his house and destroyed property.
No one was in the house at the time as Shirodkar had gone to the market while his wife was at their daughter’s place.
On being alerted of fire at his house, Shirodkar rushed back home only to find smoke in every room of the house.
Ceiling fans, other appliances and house wiring were destroyed in the fire, while Shirodkar claimed that cracks had also developed on all walls of the house. He has estimated the loss of property at Rs 5 lakh.
Four residents, Deepak Shirodkar, Satish Shirodkar, Surendra Shirodkar and Mahesh Naik have all complained that their TVs, ceiling fans, inverters and other gadgets had been damaged.
The residents claimed that high voltage had damaged the appliances and added that except for the linesman who was summoned to the ward after the incident, no official from the electricity department visited the ward.
On receiving news, Sanguem Deputy Collector Ajay Gaude rushed to the village to take stock of the situation.
After his visit, Gaude directed the Electricity Department (Sanguem) Junior Engineer Atul Naik to submit a report on losses suffered by the villagers by Saturday morning.
While the electricity department has claimed the incident had taken place due to lightning, Ward Councillor Prakash Gaonkar and other locals insisted there had been no lightning in the area at the time. They squarely blamed the electricity department for the damage to their gadgets.
Incidentally, while at least four residents claimed to have suffered losses, the linesman has reportedly informed the electricity department that only one refrigerator belonging to Shridhar Shirodkar had been damaged in the incident.
