On Monday, the human side of the Goa Electricity Board Twitter account was displayed on social media after the state suffered electricity shut down due to heavy winds. The state citizens appreciated the act of the Board staffer who continuously kept on updating the minute to minute status of the electricity restoration process.
The saga that began on April 24 saw the Goa Electricity Board informing on Twitter that a fierce wind had taken down lines at various places due to the falling of tree branches. While the teams were already at the site with some of the contractors to speed up restoration work wherever possible and to the best extent, one of the employees of the Board kept the netizens engaged to keep them posted about the repairing work.
a huge tree had fallen on line 33KV and damaged 5 spans as intimated hby AE concerned whose team is on the groiund on the restoration job
— Goa Electricity Department (@GoaElectricity) April 24, 2022
The unknown human face of the Board initially informed that the trees had damaged 5 spans linked to the 33 kv transmission line and that the power supply at Mapusa and Candolim had been disrupted. As the citizens continued to complain about the power cut, he said that he/she was also one of the electricity consumers and that they were also facing the same problem as the common public. “I also have no lights and would be anytime fading ways from you all until supply restored and mobile and laptop charged”, they tweeted from the Goa Electricity Board’s official account.
They added that the concerned authority have been informed and the process of restoration of electricity had already begun. To a surprising response by one of the users, the person handling the account noted that no special service was being offered to them and that they were also suffering from the severe power cut. “I am also a consumer like you now out of office but only a dept person on twitter. No special service to me I go through the same route as you all to find better solutions and to pass it on if any”, the staffer stated.
While some of the users hailed the unknown employee for their honesty, others assumed that the account was hacked. The Board employee in an informal model of communication then informed that the account was not at all hacked and that all the responses shared were genuine.
The users praised the employee for his/her sincere engagement with the people of Goa amid the breakdown. The person then said that they were just passing on the issue and information from the on-ground field workers and officials to the users and that the real hard work was being done by the line staff who were busy redressing the problem since Sunday.
According to the recent updates, the falling of trees and branches on various transmission lines across the state have affected the electricity supply in areas like Dramapur, Panchwadi, Cuncolim and Candolim in Goa. The feeders, isolators and conductors have been damaged and the Goa Electricity Board staff is busy recharging the feeders and removing faulty isolators. However, supply has been fully restored to Panaji, Bambolim, Mapusa, Margao and Curchorem municipalities.
Post thunderstorms fierce winds etc , the department staff has worked whole night on war footing at all such affected places & restored supply to normalcy at all places as of now . Supply fully restored to Panaji City, Bambolim, Mapusa, Margao, Curchorem municipality ,
— Goa Electricity Department (@GoaElectricity) April 26, 2022
Reports mention that heatwaves across several parts of India have seen a 38-year-high rise in the demand for electricity for domestic purposes. At least 7 states, therefore, have decided to plan blackouts specifically to reschedule supply for the farming sector. The list includes Punjab, Haryana, Uttar Pradesh, Rajasthan, Andhra Pradesh, Goa and Karnataka.
