[ Indu Chukhu ]
ITANAGAR, 2 Aug: With the temperature rising this summer, frequent power cuts and erratic water supply have made life miserable for the residents of the Itanagar Capital Region (ICR), as well as those in the districts.
The business community is the worst affected. Many depend on generators when there is no power supply. However, they have to spend a huge amount of money for fuel, costing them more than Rs 10,000 a day, in order to preserve cold beverages in their stores. Shops with perishable items cannot be imagined without power supply.
A student who lives in a rented accommodation in Forest Colony near VKV Chimpu said, “There is power issue on a daily basis, with low voltage every week.”
There is no cumulative input on whether water supply is regular or not in the ICR, but it has been noted that most of the homes have their own borewell for water. Without borewells, depending solely on the PHED is futile, several residents said.
Speaking to this reporter, Itanagar PHED Executive Engineer Tad Logi said that that the department has not received complaints with regard to water supply for a couple of weeks now.
“Water is being distributed on a regular basis. Only a few areas, such as Donyi Colony and RK Mission area and a few others get water supply on alternate days,” the EE said.
He said that the department is soon going to launch its website phedrevenue.org, where one can address their grievances and also pay the water bill.
He said that the website will be launched by the chief minister on 5 August.
When contacted, PHED Naharlagun Subdivision Assistant Engineer Tamchi Syam said that as of now, “the water supply in Naharlagun is okay.” However, he pointed out that supply has been affected near the Sohum showroom and Barapani area due to the ongoing highway work.
“Pipe lines will be restored in those areas after the highway formation work is completed,” he said, adding that for now, water is being supplied to the areas by water tankers.
On being asked about the erratic power supply, Central Electric Zone Chief Engineer (Power) Ginko Linggi said that the power scenario would see improvement “on the completion of the strengthening of transmission and distribution system in Arunachal Pradesh, being executed by the Power Grid Corporation of India Limited.”
The scheme envisages construction of 132 kv and 33 kv lines, a 132/33 kv EHV substation and 33/11 kv DMS substations across Arunachal.
He said that the scheme had been sanctioned with Rs 3,000 crore in 2014, with the target of completion in 2018.
“Under the Central Electrical Zone, there are many districts, such as Kurung Kumey, Kra Daadi, Upper Subansiri, Upper Siang, Shi-Yomi and others that are not connected with a grid line,” informed Linggi.
