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| Muthi fire incident result of illegal power connections, PDD draws flak | | | Early Times Report
JAMMU, Nov 10: The recent devastating fire at Muthi village which engulfed 12 Juggis was the result of a short circuit caused due to illegal power connection by the slum dwellers in the area.
The fire could have turned to be a great catastrophe had the surrounding residents not taken timely action and risking their lives to save the adjacent residential houses from the fire furry. Over 100 local people took control of two houses whose back wall was touching the juggis and despite their efforts the fire damaged the windows of one of the residential house.
The fire which broke at 5pm destroyed all the 12 juggis of the labourers along with their house hold goods, eatables and utensils. Still it was the good luck for the people that fire did not breakout during the night hours as it would have caused lot of damage and even engulfed the surrounding residential houses.
The cause of fire which as per the eye witness was the short circuit due to illegal power connections taken by Juggi people under the very nose of PDD authorities causing a lot of resentment among the masses. They accuse the PDD authorities of deliberately sleeping over the issue as every where the slum dwellers are using electricity illegally by laying the hooks on the main lines.
The Muthi tragedy should not been seen in isolation but previously such fire incidents in juggis have also taken place in different parts of Jammu, sources said, adding the PDD authorities who are fully aware of the matter instead of taking action or finding a remedy to problem do not bother to set the things right.
Sources said the holing system by the juggimen have become a common feature in Jammu now and the Departmental authorities have failed to take action against these illegal connections or disconnect these liens. The only excuse given for such illegal connections is the poverty which the labour class is facing, sources said, adding this is not a reality.
Sources said that the labourers do pay the fee but it is not collected in the Government chess but goes to the pockets of the officials. And instead of encouraging these illegal connections if the PDD comes with a proper policy by granting temporary connections to the juggis and prescribing a minimum fee for the same such devastating fire incidents in future could be averted.
However the Departmental authorities don't bother for the same and this way they are doing a gross negligence and violating the official norms and rules themselves.
Sources said there are hundreds of juggis which have illegal power connections in Jammu region and it is not only a huge revenue loss to Government but can also expose people to grave risk. |
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