PORVORIM
A linesman was seriously injured after he came into contact with live wires and fell off an electricity pole at Don Waddo in Salvador-do-Mundo on Monday.
The incident has angered locals, with a former sarpanch accusing power officials of being negligent in ensuring safety of staff attending to faults on electricity poles.
There has been frequent power disruption at Salai these days. On Sunday night, power supply disrupted at around 10 pm and it was restored only at noon on Monday and that too after intervention of Tourism Minister and Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte.
On Monday while attending to repairs at Donwado, a linesman Ladu Naik Arondekar from Pernem, came into contact with live wires and fell off a pole. He sustained serious injuries and was shifted by locals to the Goa Medical College Hospital at Bambolim.
Hitting out at power officials, former Salvador do Mundo sarpanch Sanjiv Naik said the lineman had been seriously injured due to lack of coordination and negligence by officers.
“The poor linesman has become a victim of someone’s negligence and those responsible should be taken to task. While attending to repairs, the area junior engineer concerned should have been present at the place to ensure that power supply was switched off. This is a serious lapse,” said Naik.
Naik further mentioned even though power supply was restored, the voltage was very low. “The fans and washing machines were not working properly in my area,” he said.
Salvador do Mundo Panch Rajesh Savaikar said disruption in power supply during monsoon has become a common feature.
“The Ariel Bunch Cabling has been a failure. The only solution for the frequent power failure is to lay underground cabling and the electricity department should lay underground electricity cabling as early as possible to ensure uninterrupted power supply to residents of Salvador do Mundo,” said Savaikar.
