MARGAO
The sarpanchas and elected members from the Velim constituency led by MLA Cruz Silva on Friday called on senior electricity officials at the Aquem powerhouse to protest over the frequent power outages in the villages and to seek redressal of power issues.
The sarpanchas and the MLA pointed out that the villages have been experiencing frequent power outages. They further pointed out that the villages have been witnessing voltage fluctuations while drawing the attention of the authorities to trees hanging dangerously on the overhead wires.
Sarzora sarpanch Leona Fernandes told the Superintending Engineer South that the village has been witnessing power and voltage fluctuations over the last many days, leaving electric gadgets and household goods damaged.
She pointed out that the power department is yet to take up the work of trimming branches and trees hanging dangerously over the overhead lines.
The Velim MLA later told the media at the Aquem Power House that the villages of Velim Chinchinim, Sarzora and others have been witnessing frequent power outages in recent days. Saying he has come to meet the officials to draw their attention to the problem, the Velim MLA said the maintenance work on the power lines in the constituency has not been done so far and neither are the tree branches trimmed.
He said the Superintending engineer has given an assurance that he would call a meeting with the Power officials in charge of the Velim constituency and take a review of the situation. The officer has also promised to get the tree branches trimmed to reduce interruptions.
Power officials told the media that there have been power outages recently given the breakdown of the power supply from Karnataka to Goa, adding that outages were also reported in the villages after the recent rains due to the uprooting of electric poles.
The officials said that issues such as trimming of tree branches and non-functioning lights will be addressed within eight days.
“A meeting of the officials and ground staff will be convened immediately to ensure coordination. The issues raised by the people will be resolved within eight days,” the officials said, adding that estimates for a host of power projects in the Velim constituency have been sanctioned and the projects will be tendered soon.
