-- Samir Umarye
While people expect uninterrupted power supply all across Bicholim, not many have bothered about the condition of the office that powers the electrical needs of the taluka. The State government has proposed many projects for Bicholim taluka, but the electricity department at Lamgao-Bicholim seems to have been abandoned for a number of years, after being neglected not only by politicians but also by senior officials in the department. A visit to the site reveals the plight of the office and its employees. At the entry, one can see a board with faded letters and virtually no one in the office is able to ascertain the age of the buildings. Even attempts to locate the foundation stone or a plaque proved futile. “There is no foundation stone laid for these buildings, but some of these buildings, including the one in which the electricity department is housed, was inaugurated sometime in 1982 in the presence of then power minister,” a senior officer from the department told Herald. “There are some constructions which date back to the 1960s as well and most of them are weak and are covered with overgrown bushes,” added the officer. A lineman claimed that the buildings have virtually been forgotten by the political and bureaucratic powers that be, as well as residents in the taluka. “Neither the government nor the people are concerned with these buildings and those of us who work in these premises. They remember us only when there is a power failure in their houses,” added the lineman. Another employee added, “The building is too dangerous and the PWD had inspected it. They were about to float a tender for the demolition and reconstruction of the building, but nothing has happened till date.” What has also bothered the employees is the presence of scrap material all around the dilapidated structures. "Such scrap material is present in every electricity department and there is a proper procedure to sell it and only the higher authorities have those powers,” explained the officer. “The case of the Valpoi department is still worse, as the scrap material is now covered with creepers and shrubs,” he said. The situation inside the electricity department building is no different to that of its exterior. Files, furniture, unused typewriters, age-old cupboards and papers half-eaten by termites confront you as you step inside the office. There is no space to move around in the office and the fear that new files could get misplaced has prompted officers to be made to sit with these files in some storeroom. Since the last one year, the Bicholim Animal Husbandry office has also been shifted to this place and is stationed in a small room adjacent to the building, which could collapse anytime. “It is very dangerous even for doctors and the other staff who are stationed here, as the room is very close to the dilapidated two-storeyed building,” said a lineman, while expressing his concern. When contacted, Bicholim MLA Naresh Sawal admitted that the Electricity department office has been totally neglected. “We have proposed for a new Vidhyut Bhavan, but it might take some time,” claims Sawal.
