The Congress has meanwhile alleged that the APDCL has not bothered to install devices which can automatically cut off power during massive downpour and flash floods. However, the Congress glosses over the fact that around Rs 1,000 crore was spent to solve Guwahati’s perennial water-logging problem during the three consecutive terms it was in power in the State. In particular, the APDCL has been implementing a Rs 146 crore project since 2015 under Restructured Accelerated Power Development and Reforms Programme (RAPDRP) — to streamline the precariously hanging power lines in the city. Aimed to prevent power theft and electrocution deaths during heavy rains, this centrally funded project should have been completed within 18 months. But as it happens with scheme after scheme in this State, the project has stalled amidst allegations of the contractor not getting paid, while questions have been raised about how the contract was awarded in the first place. Chief Minister Sarbanda Sonowal has now directed setting up of a joint team of Kamrup (M) district administration, Guwahati Municipality Corporation, PWD, APDCL, Assam Police and SDRF to identify and check out all vulnerable points in the city where live wires are posing hazards, along with constituting local level committees for quick response to such situations. On its part, the Power department has been pushed to draw up an action plan. It has been promised that all power lines in the city will be assessed for possible faults and leakages will be plugged, that APDCL will set up quick response teams and activate grievance cells and WhatsApp groups to receive citizens’ complaints and feedback. It remains to be seen whether these measures will stand up in the long run. After all, the powers-be in Dispur and various authorities mostly get wise after the event, and their reactions essentially remain knee-jerk. Recent media reports have highlighted government figures of 410 electrocution deaths in Assam in five years from 2010 to 2015. This is a high price the State is paying while its power distributor remains callous to safety aspects in its blinkered rush to augment revenue.