If living without electricity is a nightmare, imagine the plight of 70-year old J. Laxmi Devi of Belthangady in Dakshina Kannada district who had to go without electricity for about four and half months. And this despite the fact that the problem could have been solved within 24 hours!
Despite repeated complaints, no action was taken by power officials concerned for 137 days. Finally Laxmi Devi approached the corporate office of Mescom, the power utility and electricity supply was restored to her residence in two days. The trouble began when a tree fell on the service line near her house disrupting supply in October. She reported the problem to the local Mangalore electricity supply company office as even a lineman could address the problem.
The lineman after visiting the spot found that the cable had been cut at several points and felt that service could not be resumed unless new service cables were installed. Laxmi Devi’s problems began after this. "The officer concerned kept making excuses including one that no cable was available. Despite several complaints, no action was taken. Finally, after almost four and half months, we wrote a letter directly to the Managing Director, Mescom. On behalf of the corporate office, the Manager, Public Grievance Division, took prompt action and asked the local engineer to take immediate action," says Balasubramanya Bhat.G, who took up the matter on her behalf.
The matter came up for hearing before the Electricity Ombudsman recently who found that though the complainant reported the problem to the local engineer on October 19, the officer concerned took action only after the complainant approached the corporate officer in March. Finally the cables were restored on March 4.