This is shocking news. MLA Dilip could prove that he had th epower to put and end to corruption and bring peace to Saligao.
Seby Mascarenhas --- m&m <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote: > Dear Saligaonettekars, > > Our report on the dangerous way the 11,000 volts, > underground, > power cables are being laid in Saligao, is online. > > Get a ringside view with 15 pictures of the action, > links to the > main players and contact details of officials to > followup with @ www.anothergoa.blogspot.com > > Below is the text of the report. > > Solidarity. > > M&M. > ------------------------------------ > > Future Shock: GED, L&T And PGCIL Keep An Entire > Village In > Suspense! > > Anytime after their new underground electricity > cables are > charged, residents from Saligao, Goa, may well be in > for a > surprise. And it will not be pleasant, because it > could shock > them into an Intensive Care Unit if not straight > into the next > world. Instead of cool, life-giving water gushing > from Saligaoâs > taps, villagers do not know when 11,000 volts (11 > KVA) of raw, > electric power will zap and toast them to a crisp. > The suspense > itself is shocking! > > There is a running feud between Larsen & Toubro > (L&T) [link > online] the company that bagged the prestigious > contract for the > underground cabling in Goa and their sub-contractors > who are > actually digging and installing the cables here in > Saligao. The > dispute ensured that the 11 KVA cable criss-crossed > water > pipelines in Tabravaddo, while in neighbouring > Donvaddo, > residents claimed they were laid squarely on top of > a network of > 4 water pipes under a narrow road. No one has a clue > where the > cables are being laid in the rest of the village, > least of all > the local Public Works Department-Water (PWD) [link > online] that > maintains the water pipes in Saligao. > > In this high suspense drama, where the main players > are the Goa > Electricity Department (GED) [link online] as the > owner of the > project, L&T as contractors, with the Power Grid > Corporation of > India Ltd. (PGCIL) [link online] as consultants, no > one, > especially the GED know what is happening. > > There is no one from GED on site to ensure safe > procedures. When > we talked to one engineer from GED, he was shocked > to hear of > the safety measures employed and asked us to write a > complaint > to the engineer looking after the 11 KVA lines in > this area. > > There also is no coordination between L&T and the > Telephone > (BSNL) [link online], PWD-Water and PWD-Roads > departments. For > instance, when the digging was started on our road > opposite St. > Anne's chapel, the local PWD-Water supervisor was > not called in > to point out the exact location of the water pipes. > > L&T have instructed the digging contractors to > maintain a minimum > of 300 mm or 1 foot distance between the cable and > the nearest > water pipeline. "If the distance is not available, > a partition of loose bricks will be constructed by > the side of > the pipeline to separate the 11 KVA cable", says > Jayshanker, > L&T's engineer in charge of the Saligao project (see > > Jayshanker's diagram of the 300 mm distance). > > We insisted that Santosh Mandrekar, the supervisor > in charge of > PWD's water department in Saligao, meet Jayshanker > at the site > outside our house a few days ago. Mandrekar pointed > out the > future danger of local PWD staff working on a > damaged pipeline > next to the 11 KVA power cable. "If by mistake my > worker's pick > axe digs into the power cable, in a trench filled > with water, > can you imagine what will happen? Not only will my > worker be > electrocuted instantly, but every pipeline and tap > in the > village will immediately be charged with 11,000 > volts of > electricity!" (see pics showing leak caused by cable > digging and > emptying of trench after valves were shut) > > Jayshanker assured Mandrekar that adequate > precautions will be > taken and that wherever the11 KVA cable crosses > water lines, the > cable will be put under the pipeline at a safe > distance. This > however does not seem to be happening at all places, > as the > digging contractors are refusing to dig deeper or > broader to > maintain the 300 mm safe distance when they come > across a water > pipeline. It was only when we insisted that they > reluctantly > installed the cables under the pipelines outside our > house. > > This means that if local citizens do not supervise > and insist on > the 11 KVA cable being laid below the water pipes, > or a safe 300 > mm away, we may just have the cable lazily laid > above them or > too close to them. There they will lie in wait, like > a mass > death trap for unsuspecting Saligaokars in future > (see pictures > of cables laid on, side-by-side or just below the > water pipe). > > Opposite our house we had decided to jump into the > trench and > physically stop the work if better sense did not > prevail on L&T > and its local digging contractors. Some safety > measures were > employed like laying the cables under the pipe > instead of over, > as had been planned. But the safety measures are far > from > adequate as can be seen from the accompanying pics. > We actually > have a potential 'gramicide' (extermination of a > whole village, > where 'gram' means village!). > > We spent 4 entire days to ensure that at least some > semblance of > safety was maintained on the cables being laid from > St. Anne's > Chapel to the transformer by the side of our house. > Time and > time again we have had to liaise between and call > for common > meetings between local PWD staff, digging > contractors, panchayat > member and L&T. And then to the extent humanly > possible, we > actually supervised that the maximum safe distance > is maintained > between the power and water lines. > > Dr. Wilfred D'Souza , our previous MLA and Deputy > Chief Minister > [link online] who brought the underground cabling to > Saligao has > been informed. Bhola Ghadi, the local panchayat > member is aware > of this dangerous situation and is with the > villagers to avert > any potential danger to lives in future. We raised > the issue at > the Gram Sabha yesterday and asked for a Panchayat > member to > oversee the entire operation in the village. Last > evening, we > also met the new MLA, Dilip Parulekar [link online] > who === message truncated === ____________________________________________________________________________________ Don't get soaked. Take a quick peak at the forecast with the Yahoo! Search weather shortcut. http://tools.search.yahoo.com/shortcuts/#loc_weather _______________________________________________ Saligao 403511 website http://saligao.goa-india.org Saligaonet mailing list [email protected] http://lists.goacom.org/mailman/listinfo/saligaonet
