Jiribam, October 02 2009: The sub-divisional town of Jiribam, under Imphal East district, once used to be considered a town where electricity never fails.

But that is now history with regular breakdown of power supply becoming the order of the day.

The main factors leading to frequent breakdown of power supply have been attributed to the apathy of the Government and its Department concerned from replacing the outdated machines installed at the control room located at Kadamtala as well as the worn out electric cable lines.

Even the dilapidated electric poles in Jiri town are being repaired by local clubs and other like-minded persons as the Department concerned has failed to do so.

During a recent survey, it came to light that most of the electricians, including the linemen in Jiribam, are hired hands as the genuine employees are enjoying their salary without attending to their duties.

The power in Jiribam is being supplied by the Power Grid Corporation of India (PGCI) with its power station at Kadamtala.

The power station of PGCI at Kadamtala is also distributing 3.15 Mega Volt (MV) till Rengpang in Tamenglong district and Shibapurikhal in Churachandpur district.

It was learnt that around Rs 65,000 is being paid to the PGCI power station of Jiri as the cost of power consumption by the Electricity Department every month.

There are two sub-stations under Jiri Electricity Division, with one of them being the Jiri sub-division construction no.6 under an Executive Engineer.

There is also no doubt that absence of Engineers in these sub-stations have aggravated the problem of frequent power breakdown in Jiribam.

During the survey, The Sangai Express came across that none of the AEs or the EE were at their work place.

Notably, atleast 5 to 6 Section Officers (SOs) are required in an Electricity Division.

But in Jiribam, a lone SO is managing the whole affair donning all the roles right from that of the engineers to the linesmen to keep the Jiri town glowing.

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