Darjeeling,
April 19: The wait for power, for residents of Kurseong town, ended this afternoon, 18 hours after the town was
plunged into darkness in the aftermath of the storm that lashed it
yesterday.
The power supply in the town was disrupted
when whipping winds and rain snapped electricity poles in Longview
area. The load shedding forced even the All India Radio to cancel its
daily news bulletin last evening.
West Bengal State Electricity Board officials, who were successful
in restoring power supply around 2 pm today, came under sharp criticism
for their "lackadaisical attitude".
The All India Radio, which telecasts its daily news bulletin at
6.50 pm, could only do so through the Middle Wave (MW) transmission
because the normal Short Wave (SW) transmission could not be operated
due to the power failure. West Bengal State Electricity Board officials, who were successful
in restoring power supply around 2 pm today, came under sharp criticism
for their "lackadaisical attitude". Transmitted at 208 meters, corresponding to 1440 kilohertz, can
cater to Kurseong town only.
Transmission through the SW, at 61.29 meters, corresponding to
4895 kilohertz, can transmit signals not only across Darjeeling
Hills but also to neighbouring states like Bihar.
B.Dasgupta, the subdivisional Officer, Kurseong, shot off a letter
to the power board complaining about the delay to restore the electricity
lines"I have not been able to get hold of the assistant engineer
and I have found that he is on leave. I have mentioned in my letter
that if such things happen again during the elections, I will take
strong action against the officials who are responsible for causing
inconvenience to the people."
Power board officials, however, were not ready to take the blame
lying down.
They said the assistant engineer of the department, D.K. Roy, has
been on leave for almost a month-and-a-half and the proxy in-charge,
A.N. Shah, did not turn up for work today.
"I have not been able to get hold of the assistant engineer
and I have found that he is on leave. I have mentioned in my letter
that if such things happen again during the elections, I will take
strong action against the officials who are responsible for causing
inconvenience to the people."
Power board officials, however, were not ready to take the blame
lying down. In spite of all these problems, we have restored the supply around
12.30 pm today," said an officials. Residents, however, said
power was restored around two in the afternoon.
"Yesterday was a Sunday and I needed to iron the school uniforms
of my children. The load shedding caused me immense trouble because
it upset all my plans. I am being forced to squeeze out time to
make up for the time I lost since last evening," said a housewife
who did not want to be named.
"Officials of the power board must realise their responsibility
and understand the inconvenience we face," she added. The worst sufferers, however, seemed to be the students appearing
for the higher secondary examinations.
"The examinations are on and yet the department took so long
to restore power supply. I could not study since last evening. I
tried studying in candlelight but ended up getting a splitting headache.
How can the officials have such a lackadaisical attitude?"
asked a student.
Courtesy
The Telegraph |
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