Blame rostering on the powers-that-be in Lucknow
ANNOYED WITH frequent incidents in which irate mobs ransacked the power substation protesting long hours of power rostering, deputy general manager power corporation PN Srivastav said the whole city would plunge into darkness if district administration did not make proper security arrangements.
He said it was becoming difficult to free employees of their sense of insecurity after repeated incidents of ransacking the station and manhandling of the staff.
Talking to Hindustan Times, Srivastav said he had written a letter to SSP Raja Srivastav and ADM city and asked them to deploy security force at sensitive power substations, including Buxipur, Khorabar, Vikas Nagar and Laldiggi. He appealed to the consumers to practice restrain since power rostering was being conducted on directives of the power control system in Lucknow.
The city is reeling under prolonged hours of power rostering for the last two weeks. Local faults and burning of transformers have aggravated the problems too. The alleged apathetic attitude of power corporation employees and the dearth of technical staff in the department have compounded the miseries of commuters. A fault generally takes three to four hours to repair.
On Sunday evening, the power supply to around four dozen localities, including Khoonipur, Askerganj, Nakhas, Buxipur, Ali Nagar, Jafra Bazar, Ghasi Katra, Nizampur, Rehmant Nagar, Khokhar Tola and Mirzapur were suspended around 7 pm due to burning of jumpers and power supply could only be restored in the areas at around 1 pm. Fuming over the six-hour power cut, residents of various localities started pelting stones at the Buxipur power substation, but timely intervention of senior residents controlled the situation. Later, police force was deployed at the substation.
{{/usCountry}}On Sunday evening, the power supply to around four dozen localities, including Khoonipur, Askerganj, Nakhas, Buxipur, Ali Nagar, Jafra Bazar, Ghasi Katra, Nizampur, Rehmant Nagar, Khokhar Tola and Mirzapur were suspended around 7 pm due to burning of jumpers and power supply could only be restored in the areas at around 1 pm. Fuming over the six-hour power cut, residents of various localities started pelting stones at the Buxipur power substation, but timely intervention of senior residents controlled the situation. Later, police force was deployed at the substation.
{{/usCountry}}In another incident on Sunday, enraged by undue delay in repairing faults, residents of Engineering College, Divya Nagar Colony and Khorabar areas held the SSO of Khorabar substation captive. They also locked the power substations at engineering college.
According to report, SSO Durga Prasad was on duty and power supply in around one dozen localities fed by the substation was suspended at 7 pm.
At 11.15 pm, around one dozen motorcycle-borne youths reached the substation and held the SSO captive.
Police rushed to the spot and started to search for the SSO, and rescued Gupta at around 3 pm. The incidents have generated sense of insecurity among power corporation officials.