Midnight digging damages power cables at Caranzalem

  • | Friday | 29th March, 2019

Residents in the area said that more than a dozen workers were seen manually digging a portion of the road after 1am. “The department found out about the problem when the line tripped around 2am. When our staff went to check they found that the road was dug up and covered with mud before they arrived,” public relations officer and executive engineer C H Rajagopalan said.The illegal digging past midnight damaged the high tension cable from NIO substation to Caranzalem, thus cutting off power supply to one part of Caranzalem and leaving residents with no power supply for five hours. Panaji: The electricity department filed a police complaint on Thursday over damage to its high tension underground cable at Caranzalem causing the line to trip and affecting four of its transformers.The puncture to the underground cable was a result of illegal digging opposite Swim Sea hotel on the connecting road opposite Rosary Church past midnight early Thursday morning. When the workers realised they had damaged the cable and a spark was seen, they fled from the area.“The fact that digging was taking place after midnight shows that they didn't have permissions and that it was illegal,” one department staffer said.

Panaji: The electricity department filed a police complaint on Thursday over damage to its high tension underground cable at Caranzalem causing the line to trip and affecting four of its transformers.The puncture to the underground cable was a result of illegal digging opposite Swim Sea hotel on the connecting road opposite Rosary Church past midnight early Thursday morning. “The department found out about the problem when the line tripped around 2am. When our staff went to check they found that the road was dug up and covered with mud before they arrived,” public relations officer and executive engineer C H Rajagopalan said.The illegal digging past midnight damaged the high tension cable from NIO substation to Caranzalem, thus cutting off power supply to one part of Caranzalem and leaving residents with no power supply for five hours. Residents in the area said that more than a dozen workers were seen manually digging a portion of the road after 1am. When the workers realised they had damaged the cable and a spark was seen, they fled from the area.“The fact that digging was taking place after midnight shows that they didn't have permissions and that it was illegal,” one department staffer said. The department has filed numerous police complaints over damage to its cables.Panaji mayor Uday Madkaikar sent out a strict warning to all agencies digging without the corporation's permission, and asked them to display boards with details, including phone number of the agencies so that locals are also aware of the work being carried out.Power minister Nilesh Cabral said that although the department has maps of its cables, it will add GIS coordinates as well as the depth at which they have been laid, and upload these on its website for all the other departments.

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