the goan I network
VASCO
Tension prevailed at Baina late Sunday evening, after hundreds of residents gheraoed the electricity section office at Baina and threatened to take the law in their own hands if officials on duty did not arrive at the office.
According to sources, local residents have been facing a lot of power cuts in Baina continuously for many days and on Sunday, power was disconnected for maintenance work from 8 am to 3 pm.
“The issue began on Sunday evening as a high tension wire broke and the power supply, which was restored after a long shutdown was disconnected again,” said a local present at the site.
“When no one reached the site where the wire had broken, locals called the section office but some officer attached to section office is alleged to have abused a local with filthy words over the phone,” the local added.
Another local claimed that some other employee threatened to beat up any local who came to the section office and told locals that he would disconnect the office telephone line so that calls are not answered. “Whether it is true or not I am not sure, but this is what sparked the outrage,” said the local
As news spread, hundreds of residents gheraoed the office and threatened to take the law in their own hands. Police arrived on the spot to control the situation and prevent any untoward incident, but irate locals demanded that employees be called to the section office.
As locals gathered, employees also started coming to the section office and began answering calls regarding power-related complaints
Speaking to the media, Baina-based social activist Tejas Pandit said power failure in Baina area had become a daily affair.
“Every time we come here, no one is ever present. The entire electricity department in Mormugao taluka is very cooperative and helpful, except for this section office in Baina. This should be brought to the notice of the concerned authorities that this particular office is not cooperative,” said Pandit.
Another resident, Mohsin Khan, said power cuts were affecting a lot of people from the Muslim community especially during the holy month of Ramadan, while Salu Barretto sought to know how domestic consumers face power cuts while industries were getting continuous power supply.
