Daijiworld Media Network - Panaji (SR)

Panaji, Sep 7: Congress workers on Thursday, performed 'traditional aarti' at the electricity department's head office in protest against the frequent power cuts and poor street-lighting in the state during Ganesh Chaturthi.

As reported in TOI, youth Congress president Varad Mardolkar said people have been celebrating the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi in darkness. "It has been four days that the power situation has been bad. This is the first time in recent times that people are suffering without electricity. Nobody in the office is willing to take responsibility in her place. The chief electrical engineer was not present at office to hear their complaints," he added.

Mardolkar said, "Even though Chief Minister Pramod Sawant in the review meeting prior to Ganesh Chaturthi, had directed the authorities to make sure there are no disruptions, the department did not heed to these directions."

Executive engineer and public relations officer C H Rajagopalan said, "The intense rainfall that the state has witnessed was unprecedented. The weather has been unpredictable. There has not been many dry spells and it is difficult for our linesmen to work in heavy rains. Everybody is working to restore power supply when trees fall on cables. We are short of line staff. Contract labour is also hard to come by this season. This contributes to the delay in restoration of power," he added.