MAPUSA
A day after Congress workers and residents of Siolim and Anjuna staged protests over recurring power outages in the coastal belt, Siolim MLA Delilah Lobo convened a meeting with senior electricity department officials to address the issue and expedite corrective measures.
The meeting was attended by Chief Electrical Engineer Stephen Fernandes and other department engineers to review the power situation that has disrupted daily life in the villages over the past several days.
Lobo acknowledged that residents of Siolim and Anjuna had been facing frequent power cuts and voltage fluctuations, causing considerable inconvenience, particularly during the summer season.
She said the discussions focused on identifying immediate solutions to stabilise power supply in the affected areas.
According to the MLA, one of the key measures involves connecting a transformer at Vaddy in Siolim through the High Distribution (HD) system.
An earlier proposal to provide the connection through an underground network has been shelved for the time being as road-cutting permissions are generally not granted during the monsoon season.
“The transformer will be connected through the HD method within a day. Once this is completed, the power tripping issues being experienced in Siolim-Marna and Oxel are expected to be resolved,” Lobo said.
She also pointed out that a shortage of manpower was affecting maintenance work in the region. At present, a single team of electricity department personnel is responsible for both Assagao and Anjuna villages.
Lobo said she had requested the Chief Electrical Engineer to increase staff strength to improve response times and maintenance services.
The MLA further informed that the Baddem-Assagao sub-station has already undergone test charging and is expected to be inaugurated shortly.
She expressed confidence that power supply issues across Bardez would ease significantly once the Saligao sub-station becomes operational.
“The power problems affecting areas such as Saligao, Calangute and the Siolim constituency will be substantially addressed after the Saligao sub-station is commissioned,” she said.
The Saligao facility is expected to be inaugurated by July, providing much-needed reinforcement to the region’s electricity distribution network.
The meeting comes in the wake of growing public anger over repeated power disruptions, which prompted residents and Congress workers from Siolim and Anjuna to march to electricity department offices on Tuesday demanding immediate action
