Frequent power cuts in Tangla area irks people

A Correspondent

TANGLA: Frequent power cuts have been making life miserable for the people of the greater Tangla, Khoirabari area in these pre-monsoon days. The ‘irresponsible’ attitude of the officials of the Tangla subdivision of the Assam Power Distribution Company Ltd (APDCL) has been largely attributed for the current scenario. Under the APDCL office of Tangla Electrical Subdivision there are five control rooms - Tangla, Hattigarh, Khusubil, Borengajuli and Khoirabari, out of which the vital Tangla control room has three feeders-Tangla town, Bhergaon and Dalanghat, whereas every other control room encompasses four to five feeders. The Tangla Electrical Subdivision of APDCL, which has approximately 70,000 consumers along with 15 major tea companies and many mini tea gardens, generates good revenue but has largely failed in terms of quality and availability of power as there have been regular power cuts and people are getting power for only 10-12 hours a day.

Under the popular Saubhagya Scheme, also known as Pradhan Mantri Sahaj Bijli Har Ghar Yojana, a Central Government project to provide electricity to all households, there have been allegations against contractors of extorting money from beneficiaries for availing the benefits of the scheme.

One-hour power cut has become a normal thing during evenings these days and on occasions, power is unavailable for hours at a stretch. Interestingly, the office of the APDCL office of Tangla Electrical Subdivision also lacks adequate manpower. The citizens have exhorted the department concerned to address the grievance of the consumers and appoint necessary staffs. Citizens largely opine that the Assam Electricity Regulatory Commission should monitor the power situation. The tariff and quality and availability of power should be linked by the Commission.

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