| Month on, PDD playing hide and seek with Govindsar habitants | | | G S Asgotra
Early Times Report
Jammu, Mar 4: The tall claims of Power Development Department (PDD) have dashed to ground as in less than a month the transformer installed at village Govindsar Kathua has gone kaput thrice, plunging hundreds of households into darkness. Instead of properly repairs of the transformer, the lower rung officers have been blaming the locals for damage and holding them responsible.
Moreover, when habitants of village met higher officials of department and appraised about their problem, the official rather than taking action against the workshop owners, who have allegedly been using sub-standard material, showed incapability to improve the mal practices of the department and blamed the residents for damage.
Pritam Dass, a villager, informed Early Times that when maximum villagers had paid the power tariff on time then why department had been taking five to six days to install new transformer, adding, "One year on, we are demanding to increase the capacity of the transformer from 100Kv to 150 Kv but every time, the department same capacity transformer has been installed", he said.
Another resident said, "One question rises how in less than one month, three transformers have gone kaput; either sub-standard cables are used or repairs are not done properly".
A retired employee of PDD, Jagdish Chander said that all the employees of workshop have been working under the pressure of officials, who have asked the mechanics, to repair the transformers as soon as possible by using low qualities wires, oils and other products. He further said, "Due to this practice the repaired transformers gone kaput within few days but district level officers remain non chalant", he said.
He further said that due to nepotism, most of the employees have been engaged for collecting tariff and were attached at different posts where there was no work.
When this correspondent contacted to Executive Engineer of Maintenance Wing, Karam Chand said that due to overloading the transformer has time and again going kaput and until the capacity of transformer have not increased, the problem would persist.
He further said that he suggested the villagers to increase the load by open declaration of same, so that department would also install a high capacity transformer. |
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