Power cables to go underground in Porvorim

PANAJI: The Rs 100-crore underground cabling project for Porvorim constituency, which had been pending for a few months, has finally received the nod. Approval to this project, an official said, has come as a surprise to many as it means that, for the present financial year, Porvorim constituency alone is set to receive about 18-19% of the department’s total funds, making its requirement more vital than that of other constituencies facing greater power crises.

Besides this project, a source said, works worth Rs 40 crore were sanctioned for the constituency.

The project proposal by IT minister and Porvorim MLA Rohan Khaunte was kept on hold by the government for a while on the grounds that the power department must carry out development as per the requirement of each constituency by prioritising the same.

An officer in the electricity department said that the priority should be addressing the needs of areas that are more vulnerable to power disruption due to falling trees in times of stormy weather. In this respect, rural areas are more affected. Parts of Salcete, Sattari, Sanguem and Canacona went without power for more than 24 hours in 2018.

In these areas, 11 KV overhead lines must be converted to underground cabling, he said, adding, “Comparatively, Porvorim has had fewer power outages.”

Power minister Nilesh Cabral had told TOI last month underground cabling would be his priority and that instructions would be given to engineers to prepare estimates for the same.

A source said that the government must have approved the project for Porvorim despite its previous reservations because Khaunte, an independent legislator, had registered his protests in the strongest possible words.

A while ago, the Porvorim MLA had announced that he had stopped visiting the secretariat as the administrative machinery was not functioning smoothly and his projects files were pending.