Mohammed Sajid
Port Blair, June 29: Frequent trip in power supply, low voltage etc have become common in South Andaman region. Without any reason there are often power cuts for more than two to three hours, even in late night hours. If Islanders call nearby site office the reply is handy “There is power cut from Power House”.
Sources told Andaman Sheekha that in case of power cut often senior officials of Electricity Department are unaware of the reasons because in South Andaman region the Administration gets power from Independent Power Producer, the Suryachakra Power Corporation Ltd (SPCL).
Since the beginning the Electricity Department maintains a site office inside the SPCL Campus to monitor the energy flow and other technical issues. Long back there used to be four JEs for four different shifts, who were responsible for maintaining log book and record various technical readings.
But now there is only one JE, who has the responsibility of keeping an eye over SPCL and maintaining records in SPCL. There is also and AE, who also has similar responsibilities.
But according to sources neither JE nor the AE visit the SPCL on daily basis. It is learnt that in a month now only once or twice these officials visit the SPCL and on rest of the days Mazdoors, posted in the unit, manage the shift.
According to reports, at present cabling panel works, of several crores, are being undertaken inside SPCL and in this crucial time to senior officials are not paying regular visit to SPCL.
Perhaps this is the reason why Administration does not have any control over power cuts and power fluctuations.
As anyone can sign the attendance register sitting right at Port Blair, Andaman Sheekha demands Electricity Department to cross check the gate register of SPCL to know how many days in a month, the concerned JE and AE have visited the SPCL.
When Andaman Sheekha contacted the SE (incharge) of Electricity Department, he said that presently he doesn’t have any knowledge about this issue as he is holding the charge of SE for just 10 days. However he assured to look into this matter and take action against officials if the news is found correct.
