Residents say Dimapur bleakly stares at darkest Christmas and New Year
Dimapur, Nov. 26 (EMN): Announcing that they were ‘bleakly staring at the darkest Christmas and New Year’, a committee representing the residents of 13 villages/colonies located between Dhobinullah and Thahekhu village have demanded the state government either install a 20 MVA transformer at Metha sub-station ‘before the festive season’ or face public disturbances.
The Joint Action Committee of 13 villages/colonies – which came to the fore not long ago when it had led a series of protests and shutdowns to demand road repair between Dhobinullah and Thahekhu village – on Sunday issued a statement containing said warning.
Since the ‘breakdown’ of a 20 MVA transformer at Nagarjan sub-station, it stated, power supply to the six areas comprising ‘Dhobinullah, DC court, Discipleship Bible College, Thahekhu, Town area and PWD colony’ has been severely affected. “Whereas the actual requirement at the sub-station to supply power to these areas is 30 MVA, the sub-station has only 10 MVA owing to which power supply has been most erratic affecting all and sundry including students appearing for exams, business establishments etc to mention a few.
“The supply of power to these areas on rotational basis also could not be provided properly since the wires are 35 years old which cannot carry the load. The wires have remained the same without any replacement ever since the establishment of Metha sub-station,” the committee reminded.
It stated that with the onset of festive season, the residents were ‘pessimistic about putting up decorative items thinking about the futility of such exercise due to almost no power supply’.
The residents, according to the JAC, were wondering “whether a government exists in Nagaland since roads are being washed away, bridges are collapsing, engulfing darkness at night and yet there is no sign of any improvement in these sectors.”
While demanding the installation of said power transformer, the committee warned that failure to meet the demand would compel the residents to ‘initiate stringent steps which may disturb the day-to-day activities’ of the department concerned as well as the state government. “It would only augur well for the state government to pay heed to this demand of the public who would not take the responsibility of any untoward incident in the event the authorities turn a deaf ear.”
