In response to the HERALD report of April 16th, the Power Minister has now fired a couple of salvos of his own in HERALD April 18th. The new report is headlined "Aleixo upset over non-usage of tap changer provided to transformer". Instead of this electrical mumbo-jumbo the headline should have read "Crossed (power) lines" or something just as pithy. This would have highlighted the unseemly squabble which is not at all in the state's interests. To explain we need to back track a bit.
In the first report (April 16th) a HERALD correspondent contacted an official in the Electricity Dept in Vasco who "complained they get little support from their superiors or counterparts in [THE ELECTRICITY DEPARTMENT] in tackling the power situation at the airport." He [the official] added: "The main problem lies with the Ponda main station which constantly supplies us with low voltage." Now the Power Minister sings a different tune from this. He is asking "why the airport didnt use the facility of tap changer provided to the transformer there?" Apparently this is "specially meant for stepping up low voltage". Then how come his own departmental staff in Vasco didnt realise this and advise the airport authorities accordingly? Is there a communication gap between Vasco staff and other staff? Alternatively, is the airport authority ignorant of the functioning of its electrical infrastructure? The minister however admits in the report that the Dept has had a problem with "its line" whichever one that is. He then proceeds to rattle off equipment capacities which differ in magnitude from those provided in the Airport Director's presentation (ADP) cited in the previous post on this (originally expanded) thread. For example he talks of the airport's 500KVA generator and an 80 ton AC system which are at variance from the 33KVA substation and 720 ton AC plant respectively. Meanwhile, the Chief Electrical Engineer, who also chimes in on the issue, does echo the 33KVA figure but his reference to the 'configuration' employed is either at variance from ADP or is ambiguous. The Power Minister suspects some sort of conspiracy on the part of the Airport authority calling it part of a "continuous campaign" against his Dept. He dismisses its warning of a shut down/flight diversion as "a pretext to incite and excite Goans". He also advises it to "set its own house in order". But oddly enough he offers to "renovate all the conductors providing power to that particular area" viz VASCO. In a boxed article in the April 18th report titled "Vasco power woes will be sorted out soon: Aleixo", the worthy sings a different tune yet again, this time all sweetness and light. He goes to the extent of saying "I definitely apologise for the situation". In this report, he alludes to the work of a Bangalore based outfit which has been tasked at the behest of the central Power Grid Corp with rectifying faults on a 110KVA line which "could be the cause of line tripping". He is however "not in a position to" specify the deficiencies just yet. For the present, the bottom line is that the Electricity Dept from the Minister on down seems to be labouring under the illusion that it is doing Goa a big favour as the in-charge of its electricity supply. It needs to adopt the mind-set of an enthusiastic service provider which takes pride in its expertise and responsiveness and gets things done. Meanwhile the Airport authority does need to show some resistance to shoddy responses of its service providers including electricity, garbage dumping etc by resorting to the "line stop" action, in consultation with the civil aviation ministry, in extreme conditions, to begin with, and gradually lowering the threshold as the response mechanism gets into gear. It is vital to meet the universal operational standards that are laid down for airport functions and not get by in "chaltha hai" mode. As for the "politics" of the situation, others may be better placed to get a fix on it. But we have one thought: What about "the dog that didn't bark"? In other words, why is the navy silent? Maybe it depends on AAI to carry the can at the civilian interface. And maybe it feels that "toughing it out" in a fairly civilized place like Dabolim/Vasco is far better than really doing so in some isolated location for purely military reasons. And last but not least, it may be counting on Goans to get fed up with the stranglehold at Dabolim and stampede to Mopa leaving the former all to itself (the navy)! So whose side is the Power Minister on? Hmmm.
