Lalbazar residents await electricity transformer during past 5 yrs

Mir Iqbal
SRINAGAR, May 19: Inhabitants of Alamdar Colony in Lalbazar today said they have been waiting for a electricity transformer for the last five years.
Residents said more than 42 families of the colony have been running from pillar to post during the past 5 years to get the transformer sanctioned, but their legislator and the concerned officials have failed to fulfill their demand.
Mohalla Committee representatives of Mohamidiya Lane, Alamdar Colony, told Excelsior that they have been spending their nights under darkness because of Government’s failure to sanction them a power transformer.
They also said that after putting much pressure to their concerned MLA and PDD’s Khanyar division three electric poles with complete link-sets and insulators were issued to them.
“The PDD erected three news poles with other equipment in our Mohalla, but didn’t sanction the transformer despite repeated requests,” they said.
The residents alleged that PDD was deliberately harassing them by not giving sanction to the “much needed” transformer.
“Our MLA, Peer Afaq of National Conference said that he has issued funds from his Constituency Development Fund (CDF), but we don’t know why PDD is not installing the transformer,” they said.
Peer Afaq told Excelsior that he would have disbursed money from CDF to purchase transformer, but a family of the same colony objected to it and moved to the court.
“The family also registered an FIR in police station Lalbazar as the people of the colony have decided to install it (transformer) very close to their house. That was why transformer was not sanctioned to them,” Afaq claimed, adding, let the Mohalla Committee clear the case in court and then approach to him.
However, Aijaz Ahmad Khan, Assistant Executive Engineer (AEE) PDD, Khanyar Division-IV, told Excelsior that the Government three years ago had imposed blanket ban for sanctioning new transformers.
Khan said their concerned MLA could have issued new electric poles from his CDF for replacement of old or damaged poles.