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| Multi-crore 'scam' surfaces in PDD | | Govt to probe procurement of faulty electric poles in Kashmir | | Early Times Report
Srinagar, Nov 27: In a major embarrassment for the Power Development Department, the electric poles made of cement, installed in various areas of Srinagar and elsewhere in Kashmir have collapsed after developing cracks exposing how "substandard" procurement was done by the government over the years.
Official sources said what has come as an even bigger embarrassment is that the poles collapsed in areas where no trees had fallen during the recent snowfall.
Sources said scores of collapsed electric poles were seen in areas like Raj Bagh, Nishat and Hyder pora where no tree was present even in the vicinity of the transmission lines that could have led to the collapse of the network during the recent snowfall.
"Snowfall is only a lame excuse. An electric pole should not crack or collapse as they are designed and developed to bear with such local conditions… The only reason for the failure of the poles is that their manufacturing has been substandard and that the concerned had not adhered to proper quality check," said a senior official of the PDD on the condition of anonymity.
"The procurement of substandard electric poles has exposed how successive regimes had been resorting to corruption to install infrastructure of such importance," he added.
The official said there was a need to order a high level probe into the matter. "In the last decade alone, transmission lines amounting to over Rs 500 crore have been laid in Kashmir. What about their quality? The government must end the legacy of corruption by going for a high level probe," the official added.
He said most of the cement poles installed in Kashmir in the past around a decade were procured from local industrialists based in Kashmir who may have not adhered to the quality check of their supplies.
"Those at the helm must have been hand in glove with the vendors and this is something that needs to be probed and exposed as only then better services can be provided to the citizens," he added. Sources said the matter had been brought to the notice of the Power commissioner. "The ball is in the court of the Civil Secretariat to initiate an inquiry," said a senior official.
Sources said the Lieutenant Governor GC Murmu is already keen on updates on transmission of power in Kashmir after the recent snowfall that had affected supplies. |
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