While expressing support to Association of Power Engineers Nagaland (APEN) to understand the efforts the department is putting on to restore normalcy, I also condemn the act of vandalism and destruction to property, as this in no way will sort out the problems but create a sense of insecurity to departmental staff to perform their duty.
However, the technocrats should also put themselves in the shoes of the common men. Everyone has become so dependent on electricity that without power, everything comes to a halt. I can say that among the revenue generating departments, power department is performing well comparing to other such departments. Power theft, hooking are taking place here and there but majority consumers are paying their bills. Public are even paying the fees for street lamps but we are not provided the facility, yet public is silent. Billing errors are blamed on computers but computers are manned by humans---no complaints! It’s going on,….on and on. The ire of public comes out to the streets only when it is accumulated and technocrats seldom face these pinches as most of them have their own 5KVA, 7KVA generators to survive!
This year, Public Works Department (Road & Bridges) and Power department have bagged gold in Nagaland as they have become the most talked and thought of department in our state. Roads do wear and tear, transformers too, or for that matter nothing lasts forever. The only means to make them work longer, better is maintenance. It is learnt that many old transformers are made to still function and such transformers may collapse anytime and cause another severe breakdown. This means maintenance to some extent is going on but why are new transformers not procured? The breakdown of 20MVA power transformer have caused such a bad time for Dimapurians, public are definitely cursing the department but don’t lose heart. But how old was the 20MVA that broke down?
It is good news new power transformers have been ordered! But how long will it take to reach Dimapur and start functioning? The department has confused the public with different statements. In conclusion, let us support the appeal of APEN and understand them. And let APEN also understand that human understanding and tolerance also has a limit and in a place like Dimapur it is even worse without power and without a generator.