WEDNESDAY, 2 SEPTEMBER 2026
Ticker

From neglect to farce: Goa's cable crisis

The coaxial high-speed internet cables are laid by making use of electric poles and the process has been going on for several years, turning them into unsightly structures weighed down by bunches of hanging wires. The Electricity Department and the so-called team of efficient engineers were sleeping all these years and suddenly woke up to realise that poles are being used without permission to carry high-speed internet cables. 
One so-called smart engineer makes a drama of cutting cables at some specific location, by which he gets high publicity due to public outcry. It appears that an entire group of officers from Assistant Engineer, Executive/Superintending/Chief Engineer, including the concerned minister, are working in cosy cabins and moving in closed A/C cars, so they could not see what is happening all around or are receiving perks to look the other way, else they would have acted at the very first instance. The vigilant citizens have brought out these aspects on several occasions but they have fallen on deaf ears. It is a well-known fact that all such acts of violations get duly legalised over a period of time. 
The Electricity Department has lost its authority and moral status now to cut cables selectively or even totally, other than meekly accepting it due to its own grave fault. The only alternative open is to find a suitable solution, maybe erecting a separate network of poles to shift these hanging cables and to lay new cables.

SHARE ON

ISO tag for p'yats must mean better service

MELVILLE D'SOUZA, Mumbai
Published Jan 25, 2026, 1:06 AM IST
SHARE ON

This refers to ‘7 Panchayats get ISO certification, 41 more in line’ (TGE, January 24). It is good to know that seven Village Panchayats have been awarded ISO certification and that 41 others are in the process of obtaining the ISO certification. However, it is important that these Panchayats function as per the ISO standards/guidelines; as such, it should translate into efficient public service. Or else the ISO would remain just a status symbol. Really speaking, it is…

READ MORE
Home HOME News GOA NEWS Global GLOBAL GOENKAR Search SEARCH