Nashik's Igatpuri has been experiencing continuous power outages for a month. As a result, angry residents reached the Mahavitaran office on Monday and gheraoed Deputy Executive Engineer Sachin Mali, demanding answers.
Citizens alleged that the repair work by Mahavitaran has not been done to its full capacity. Tourism is at its peak in the monsoon, and tourists are suffering due to the negligence of Mahavitaran, as safety kits are not available to employees. It was observed that there is also a shortage of essential materials. As a result, the safety of employees is also at risk.
Citizens have given Mahavitaran a deadline of 15 days. If the repair work is not completed within this period, they warned they would lock the office and launch a protest. Citizens said that there are technical problems in the power supply due to a lack of pre-monsoon work. Electrical equipment was damaged due to frequent power outages. Despite complaints from time to time, Mahavitaran has not taken any notice. Since the employees and officials of Mahavitaran are not taking proper action, traders are suffering huge losses.
Police arrangements were made in the presence of Police Inspector Sarika Ahirrao to prevent any untoward incident.
“No attention is being given to our complaints. The tourists have to suffer due to this. This is hampering our businesses as it is peak tourist season. If the concerned officers and employees are not doing their work, their superiors should take notice of them," said Manoj Maniyar, a businessman.
Sachin Mali, Deputy Executive Engineer, Igatpuri, said, "Due to heavy rains along with strong winds over the past few days, wires have been snapped due to falling poles and trees. Faults in insulators are causing faults on the lines and line breakdowns. A large number of tree branches were trimmed. Wires were pulled. New poles were put in place. Transformer maintenance was done. This month, the work of replacing a new conductor of four km, replacing the distribution box, installing new poles, installing AB switches, and pruning branches will be completed so that an uninterrupted supply can be provided."
