PANAJI
Goa’s electricity department has been very active and prompt, as far as the entertainment of consumers’ complaints is concerned. The department has a long reputation for receiving and taking calls from public at odd hours and acting upon them, even when the power supply gets disrupted in the middle of the night.People have not forgotten the days when one of the former power ministers, Margao MLA and ex-Chief Minister who boasted to be available for the people of Goa 24x7, especially to Madgaonkars who were free to disturb him in the middle of the night to call and tell that the electricity in their home or area has tripped. And one may not believe it, but waking up to take the call and acting promptly upon the caller’s complaint, this power minister would order the electricity department and ask the person on duty to fix the problem.
The people of Margao would not deny this. So with such a reputation, the electricity department is working for the people, to meet their power needs, and to go out of their way to help the consumers, a question arises, whether this dialogue has stopped or reduced!
A recent interaction between the electricity department, commercial consumer Sandesh Dhareshwar and GOACAN convenor Roland Martins reveals that the department is still eager to coordinate with the end consumers and solve their issues, and for this dialogue to start, is working on upgrading their website. As a consumer, and secretary of Kundai Industrial Estate Association, Sandesh Dhareshwar who owns Vimal Arty Printery, came up with many points.
Dhareshwar claimed that the electricity department decides between the consumers and the industry, whenever there is power shortage, and if required it shuts down the industry supply to give power to the basic consumers. Is this fair, asks Dhareshwar and demanded why both are not considered equal and important and given power.
“If the department starts shifting between the two (industry and public) it is unfair as most of the revenue to the government exchequer comes from industry. We also generate employment. If the power is diverted from the industry to the consumers, how would existing industries survive and how would new industries feel motivated to come to Goa?”
Today, we live in a global village. One has to compete with the industries globally. Local industries manufacture for global consumers and everything needs to be at par to cater for the international market. Luckily, Goa has industries that cater to the glo-cal (global and local) markets. The quality of power and the equipment has to be state-of-the-art. This is the need of the hour. Many of the pharma industries are at Verna Industrial Estate, and they have global consumers. If the quality of power is not up to mark, the equipment which has upgraded its quality, would be a futile exercise.
If reliable and uninterrupted power is not available, those who wish to come to Goa to put up industry would be in two minds, whether to come or not. “The current Chief Minister Pramod Sawant is taking initiatives to bring industries to Goa. But there is strong need to look at power needs. He should see that power, water and other basic amenities that the industry requires for survival are provided,” suggested Dhareshwar.
The industry is constantly in touch with the electricity department to understand what exactly the problem is. Once the problem is detected, it can be resolved. “The public is under the impression that there is shortage of power, but that’s not the case. The infrastructure which is 30 or 50-year-old is the reason for power tripping. Whenever one asks for more power, the infrastructure starts tripping. If it starts tripping, the entire process of manufacturing goes waste. We should see that we not only get more power from outside (States) but our infrastructure also is strengthened to transmit this power. Our demand was that Kundai should have a full-fledged sub-station in the industrial estate which has not yet come up, and we draw power from Ponda. When trees fall in monsoon there is power tripping. During April-July we have difficulty running our business in both shifts. Every company in Kundai complains about the absence of power. We approach the department, they start planning, but it’s too late,” claims Dhareshwar.
The government should increase the pace of work, put things in place in a short period. If seven years are required to bring power, what is being done to improve the infrastructure in the State to get that power, he asks, pointing to the TAMNAR project that is taking so long to start.
