Mumbra residents take power to the people

THANE: For a power utility used to violent protests from angry consumers, this would have come as a welcome change. Citizens of Anandnagar Koliwada in Mumbra, faced with a two-day-long outage, recently decided to take matters into their own hands, but in a refreshingly novel way—they lent a hand to repair a burnt-out transformer.
Instead of taking out a morcha to the state electricity board office and pelting stones or shouting slogans, the group from Mumbra resorted to some constructive action when power lines tripped for over two days.The entire area had been facing a blackout since Monday evening. The cable connecting the transformer had burnt-out and the local MSEB office had neither the requisite material nor the manpower to carry out repairs.
Rajan Kine, a Thane municipal corporator who is also the standing committee chairman, said, "We made frantic efforts to reach out to the officers. But there was nobody to receive our complaints. Eventually we managed to get the mobile number of the engineer in charge of our area. However, he was not able to sort out the problem. We then decided to take things in our hands."
Kine and others marched to the MSEB office in Kopri and fetched the required cable. They made arrangements for a vehicle to carry the material and also hired a few labourers. "Even the hacksaw needed to cut the required cable belonged to us," said Kine.
Some local citizens with expertise in electrical repairs were also roped in to fix the problem. Irfan Patel, one of the electricians, along with two others—Arif Khan and Juzar Soni, then teamed up with the lone MSEB staffer in replacing the burnt-out wire of the transformer.
Incidentally, the board's subdivision office has a skeletal staff of five persons who monitor the working of the 60-odd transformers in the Mumbra area and service more than two lakh consumers. "MSEB needs more staff here. It must increase its strength considering the load here. With monsoon round the corner, the sub-division office must be equipped with necessary material," Patel said.
Sub-divisional engineer A K Sheikh said the agency was coping well despite the staff situation. "Even if the strength is less, we make necessary arrangements to fix the problem at the earliest. Most problems in Mumbra are concerned with cable faults, which take more time for correction. The congested areas and the hilly terrain make our work difficult."
According to sources in MSEB, one of the other problems hindering their work in the region—Mumbra, Kausa as well as Diva—are the heavy outstandings. Power theft too is very rampant although local politicians deny the figures. "These allegations are rubbish. If there is power theft, the MSEB has the machinery to check it. No such cases have been registered. I have been staying here since my birth," Kine said.
milind.ballal@timesgroup.com