Nearly 25 villages of Sakleshpur taluk have been without electricity since heavy rain lashed the taluk last week. The delay in restoring the power connection has left the villagers suffering. The snapped power lines have also affected the supply of drinking water.
“The problem is so severe that we have to go to Sakleshpur town to recharge our mobile phones,” said Krishnamurthy, a resident of Yesluru.
According to the Chamundeshwari Electricity Supply Company (CESC), as many as 175 electric poles were damaged in Sakleshpur taluk during the heavy rain in the last week. In Uchhangi village alone, 15 poles were damaged, stopping the power supply to the nearby villages. “We can understand the difficulty in restoring power supply and manage for one or two days. However, we do not have power supply for a week now,” Mr. Krishnamurthy said.
Some of the affected villages are Uchchangi, Hulagattur, Goddu, Kelavatti, Kuppalli, Tambalageri, Mageri, Kengalli, Karaguru, Odalli and Thippahalli.
Only a few have alternative power supply equipment (UPS) installed. However, they too have stopped working now. The villagers have been contacting the officers of the CESC repeatedly to restore the lines.
Narayana Bhovi, Executive Engineer, CESC (Sakleshpur division) told The Hindu, “We are engaged in the work of restoring the lines.” He has deployed staff to problematic areas and assigned the work to contractors to restore the lines. The officer said the restoration work could not be done fast as heavy rains continued in most of the affected places. “We have enough material and poles to restore the supply. By Wednesday, we will complete the work,” the officer said.
However, the public say the officers are negligent. They alleged that the officers respond quickly to affected private resorts or homestays. “If a resort or a home stay registers a complaint, the officers restore the supply within a few hours, whereas, in the case of farmers they show negligence. We have been suffering for one week,” said Umesh, a resident of Goddu village.
