Villagers in cyclone-hit Konkan and Raigad blame privatisation, as they complete a week without power supply
The high tension line and transformer in Mahad that fell during the cyclone last week
At the end of their patience with regard to the power supply, locals in Raigad district have blamed the outsourcing of power maintenance to private agencies and contractors for the delay in repair work. With no material and spare parts required for the restoration of power, many households in the cyclone-hit district continue to operate in the dark, more than a week after the incident.
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"We have no power nor potable water for more than a week now. Local shops have run out of candles too a R5 candle is being sold for R50. We now cook once a day and eat before sunset," said Nizamuddin Sarkar, an activist from Tol village of Mahad taluka. "I had arranged for some manpower from our village 500 houses to clear fallen trees and debris so that the restoration team could reinstall damaged electric poles and high tension lines but only 400 houses have managed to get the supply with 100, including mine still without power," he said, adding that the local deputy engineer supervising restoration work said that he had only eight technicians and sixty villages to attend to. "It is unfair that suddenly the focus has shifted to other areas," he said.
The high tension line and transformer which carries electricity to Tol village in Mahad fell due to Cyclone Nisarga on June 3
He said that services by Mahavitaran have been impacted lately due to the outsourcing of repair and maintenance work to smaller agencies. "Earlier, technical workers would be directly hired as full-time employees by MSEB," said another villager.
"We have learnt that due to the non-availability of raw materials and poles, installation work for restoring power supply will be further delayed and it might get even worse with the approaching monsoon," Sarkar said.
The Mahavitaran has vacancies for technical and support staff but they rely on outsourced agencies.
The electric poles and high tension wires that supply power have been restored and only 100 of the 500 houses in the region are still without electricity supply
"I had spoken to local officials from MSEB regarding the need for more workers during the monsoon. However, most locals outsourced by MSEB are usually busy in their farms during this period and in case of an emergency, the junior sub-engineer has to mobilise the labour working in the field," Sarkar pointed out.
-No shortage-
Chandrakant Kendre, deputy engineer Mahavitaran, Mahad, said, "Villagers from Tol assisted our team to clear trees and debris. I was working there for three days with my small team round the clock. The high tension lines have been installed." He added, "Since we cannot provide direct supply to the remaining households in Tol, we have to make a diversion from the direct line and therefore have to install additional poles."
He, however, denied any shortage of materials or poles. "I have personally dispatched 12 poles required for rerouting the supply lines on Tuesday to Tol village and we have no reason for not providing power to the entire village. We will have to fix poles and then pull the wires before the supply is given to the double pole line and then to the respective houses in the village," he explained.
Compensate for delay
Sarkar, however, said that the locals could provide more than a 100 people to support the existing staff of Mahavitaran for completing their work, "but unless they provide technicians to join the lines, nothing can be done."
He also said that the MSEB has enough manpower to send recovery teams to disconnect supply when payments are delayed, but "now they are letting consumers suffer over delayed restoration."
He said, "They should pay compensation to every affected household who is forced to stay in darkness for more than a week."
-Working round the clock-
Deepak Patil, superintendent engineer Mahavitaran, Raigad said that this is a natural disaster, and "we are all working round the clock with limited resources."
He added, "We are working hard to restore power in the entire Raigad district and our routine vacancy is not hampering the present restoration work. Also, materials are being procured as required."
Patil said, "Even the new transformers were damaged completely in the cyclone. So blaming manpower or shoddy work is absolutely not right."
08
No. of technicians working in Mahad
60
No. of villages the technicians attend to
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