the goan I network
canacona
The PWD (Water-Supply) contractor on Wednesday damaged the recently commissioned underground power cable at Bhatpal, but workers were lucky to escape from any contact with the live wires.
However, Gaondongrim and Cotigao villages were left without power supply.
According to Canacona Assistant Executive Engineer Vinayak Mhalshekar, the PWD contractor has been laying a water pipeline by digging the same trench already carrying the underground 11 KV Electrical cable, feeding the two villages of Gaondongrim and parts of Cotigao.
The workers on Wednesday damaged the underground electricity cable near Forest Gate, Bhatpal, thereby causing complete shutdown of electricity to these two village areas.
Mhalshekar informed that the PWD contractor, without intimation or obtaining permission, was laying the water pipeline excavating the same trench which already had underground power cables.
“It is only luck that the labourers or anyone of the working party did not come in contact with the live 11 KV underground cable, which could have proved fatal,” Mhalshekar said.
“By excavating the same trench having live high tension electrical cable without intimation to the electricity department or taking precautionary measures, the PWD contractor has not only risked the lives of workers, but also risked the lives of public, particularly motorists and domestic animals at large.”
It may be recalled that as part of a pilot project under the ST Sub Plan, two ST dominated villages of Gaondongrim and Cotigao were the first two villages to be extended with underground electrical supply, thus reducing the frequent power cuts due to snapping of overhead alignments since last two years.
The underground power cabling was later extended to Shristhal and the coastal municipal areas of Canacona.
