Tarun Karthick
Port Blair, 26 August 2023
The Communist Party of India (Marxist), CPI (M), has called for urgent action to address the persistent and indiscriminate power disruptions plaguing areas from Wimberlygunj to Shoal Bay-19. In a written appeal to the Superintending Engineer of the Electricity Department, D. Ayyappan, Secretary of the CPI (M) A & N State Organising Committee, highlighted the grave consequences of the ongoing power issues in the mentioned regions.
The CPI (M) Secretary conveyed the party’s deep concern about the consistent power outages that have become a distressing norm for residents in the affected areas. According to reports received by the CPI (M), these power disruptions have imposed inexplicable hardships on the local population. While residents of Port Blair town and other parts of rural South Andaman endure daily power cuts lasting 6 to 8 hours, those in the aforementioned areas are grappling with severe disruptions lasting 10 to 14 hours each day.
The dire repercussions of these power cuts extend to the educational sector, where students have borne the brunt of interrupted power supply, hampering their ability to focus on their studies. The CPI (M) Secretary emphasised that the extended power cuts have elicited widespread dissatisfaction among thousands of residents, who feel neglected by the Electricity Department’s apparent inability to address the issue effectively.
In a direct appeal to the Superintending Engineer, Ayyappan underscored the urgency of the matter, urging personal intervention to rectify the situation promptly. Failing appropriate action, the CPI (M) warned of impending agitations at the Electricity Department’s site offices in the affected areas.