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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