Voltage fluctuation damages home appliances, residents up in arms

Ravinder Sood

Palampur, June 15

Residents of the Arla, Thakurdwara and Saloh areas of Palampur today lodged a strong protest outside the office of the Assistant Engineer against frequent power failure and high power voltage that has damaged home appliances.

Residents said they had to suffer due to the negligence of the Himachal Pradesh State Electricity Board Limited (HPSEBL) and they have also demanded compensation.

Talking to The Tribune, a number of villagers said, they immediately reported the matter to the HPSEBL Assistant Engineer, but even after 48 hours no officer bothered to reach the villages to verify the facts and console the victims, who had suffered losses over Rs 75 lakh.

A resident said his fridge worth Rs 35,000, was damaged due to high power voltage. He called the local Junior Engineer, who disconnected the call. Another resident said she had purchased a television for Rs 28,000, but it was damaged due to power fluctuation.

“I saw a local cable operator with a sack full of set-top boxes in the morning. It seems many suffered due to the power fluctuation,” a resident said.

The residents said the HPSEBL must offer compensation to the people.

Rakesh Kumar, another resident, said, his television, set-top box and Wi-Fi modem burnt due to the power voltage last night. He said almost of the residents got their one or the other electronic article destroyed.

The HPSEBL Executive Engineer said he said he would get it checked as soon as possible. However, no officer was committed to pay compensation to the victims. Meanwhile, victims said they would soon move to the court for their claims as the HPSEBL authority seems non- cooperative.