No power in Cachar's Saotal Basti for past 3 months; residents up in arms

Cachar, Sept 13: The residents of Saotal Basti in Subhang GP area of Borkhola constituency of Cachar district on Thursday took to the streets to stage a protest against lack of power supply.

The residents have alleged that for the past three months, lack of power supply has made their life miserable amidst exasperating heat.

It was revealed that the power supply in the vicinity is affected due to a transformer snag, which is yet to be addressed by the concerned department.

“We live in a remote village and there has been no electricity in our area as the transformer is lying in a defunct state. This has caused us problems as our children are facing serious inconveniences in their studies. Despite repeated appeals to authorities, we are yet to witness restoration of power supply,” an elderly local said.

Notably, on May 16, local MLA Misbahul Islam had written to the Sub-Divisional Officer (Udharbondh Sub Division) of Assam Power Distribution Company Limited (APDCL) over the defunct status of the 25KV transformer and requested the authorities to replace the non-operational transformer at the earliest.

Talking to The Assam Tribune, Laskar said on Thursday that he is well aware of the situation and he would speak to the APDCL officials to solve the issue.

“I had written to the SDO of Udharbond Subdivision of the APDCL requesting a replacement of the defunct transformer. I am informed about the issue of several 25KV in many locations of Borkhola constituency that are getting affected, about which I will once again speak to the APDCL authorities,” the legislator said.

Upon being asked about the situation and the reasons behind the prolonged non-availability of power supply in Saotal Basti in Subhang GP, Bappi Das, AGM Division II of APDCL, said that the transformer was partially repaired.

“I have asked the officials to submit the damage report on Friday, and we will act on the matter with priority,” the official asserted.

However, he rejected the claims made by the affected residents of non-availability of power supply for a stretch of three months, saying, “It is true that the transformers get affected due to lightning, storm, or other technical issue, and we have been promptly replacing the damaged transformers. But it is unthinkable that such a situation has been prevailing for a period of three months. Nonetheless, we shall look into the cause and replace at the earliest.”