Srinagar: Each time there is a snowfall or a natural calamity hits Kashmir, the first casualty is the power supply and people start cursing the Power Development Department (PDD), but little did they know that the invisible hands behind the restoration work were PDD employees working on the ground who leave comforts of their homes to do a challenging restoration job.
One such example is Muhammad Maqbool, a casual labourer in Kashmir Power Development Corporation Limited (KPDCL) who on Wednesday left his home in the wee hours to start restoration work in the Ganderbal division.
“I left home at 6 am after receiving a call and walked almost 2 hours on foot to reach the spot where the damage was to be rectified,” he said.
Like Maqbool, there are thousands of power warriors who within no time are on the field doing their job.
There are scores of videos on social media networking sites showing the courage and valour of these employees doing their duties braving snow fury.
Farooq Ahmad, a lineman with KPDCL said that from climbing atop power towers to handling 11 kV lines and rectifying faults on poles, they do all these things at a time when almost the majority of the population in Kashmir remains inside their homes.
“It is a part of our job and we do it with utmost sincerity,” he said. “People also do recognise our contribution in the restoration of power supply.”
A senior KPDCL official said that from the chief engineers to junior engineers, inspectors to linemen, everybody remains on the ground when there is any calamity and the power supply gets disrupted.
“It is our job, but unfortunately very few recognise our contribution,” he said.
The pictures of KPDCL workers, without proper safety gadgets, fixing electric wires atop an electric pole are doing rounds on social media platforms and people from all quarters are lauding their good work.
Meanwhile, Managing Director, KPDCL, BasharatQayoom told Greater Kashmir that post snowfall, 85 percent of electric supply across Kashmir had been restored.
“In Srinagar district, almost 97 percent power supply is restored. We have 267 11 KV feeders in the district of which 260 are up. In Ganderbal, all 11 KV feeders are working, in north Kashmir of the 253 feeders, 249 are working and four are faulty. Major outages are in south Kashmir where the work is going on. Our transmission wing has an emergency restoration system that has been mobilised. In Pulwama, our 11 KV feeders are working properly.
