Sunday Shutdown: Were people misguided to benefit builder?

It was a dark Sunday for those living in Panaji and surrounding areas.

What was said to be 6 am to 6 pm power shutdown, stretched till late night and in places like Ribandar, Chimbel and Vasco suffered till early morning..

But was it all for maintenance before monsoon? That’s what we were told.

On Monday, when the Congress gheraoed Vidyuth Bhavan after public outrage,  truth almost surfaced.

During an argument between the Ex-Mayor & electricity officials, a builder angle has emerged.

According to the reports, the power shutdown was arranged to help a Kadamba Plateau based builder by shifting high tension cable.

When the Congress gheraoed electricity officials, they almost blurted out the truth. 

The Power Minister Pandurang Madkaikar blamed the rains for delaying the work.

And when the Chief Electrical Engineer Neelakanta Reddy was asked the same question, he blamed the locals for the delay. 'Locals interrupted the officials while the maintenance work was on,' he said. 

[Visual inputs: Shyam Chari, Yeshwant Parab, Irshad Shaikh & Viraj Kamat in Panaji]