The Hindu : Kerala News : Symptom of a bigger, more widespread, evil PEOPLESPEAK

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Saturday, Sep 29, 2007
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Kerala

Kerala

Symptom of a bigger, more widespread, evil PEOPLESPEAK

The Panniar penstock pipe burst has brought into focus issues of maintenance of crucial installations of the Kerala State Electricity Board. What are the popular concerns with respect to infrastructure integrity and public safety in such matters? Our readers respond:

Revamp administration

Panniar tragedy is only a symptom of the cancer that is afflicting the tongue-active Kerala. Who is the Public when roads are not maintained, bus drivers are irresponsible, doctors and their staff want payments from patients, postmen do not deliver letters, teachers do not teach, managements of educational institutions want money to admit and appoint? They are all the same; irresponsible or incompetent or selfish.

Senior officers, engineers, doctors and ministers should be taught ethics and management so that hands and brains used to wielding the pen, screwdriver or scalpel can manage. A civil engineer with supporting staff is not required to see if pipes are developing cracks or if water is leaking. An electrical engineer can also see these and take action.KSEB should also have a Board-level genuine HRD manager and subordinate staff. Department manuals, including PWD manuals, should be revised periodically to incorporate technical advances and current requirements. Unions and associations can occasionally take time from making demands to give suggestions to improve performance and service.

Mathew Gainneos

Kochi

Provide enough staff

Vital installations of the KSEB certainly need watching and timely maintenance, both for public safety as well as for their own proper working. KSEB employees’ unions blame shortage of staff; which could be true to certain extent but whether some of the available employees do their duty sincerely and effectively is another matter. We hear complaints of dereliction of duty when live lines break and fall in to flooded paddy fields and on roads, leading to the death of innocent persons. So only providing enough staff and proper vigilance on their part can solve this problem

C. George Varghese

Thrissur

A man-made disaster

The penstock disaster is a man-made one because the KSEB does not carry out regular inspections or keep a record of the date and time of inspection and the designation of the staff that carried out the job. Before the penstock pipe was bought and installed, did any one enquire about the quality certificate which details the gauge of the pipe and the material which was used for manufacturing? The pressure test certificate and the limit it will withstand? The media reports that villagers living around this location did make report of leaking but as there are no written records, all this will be easily denied. Learning from this experience, the Board must give specific ways and means from the point of safety engineering to safeguard equipments like transformer, which often burst or burn causing heavy loss to the Board and causing inconvenience to consumers. A guideline for protecting equipment must be furnished to all staff and ensure that it is strictly carried out.

P.M.G. Pillai

Mannar

Consequence of corruption

The Panniar penstock pipe burst is a crucial incident. There are chances of similar incidents in many projects of the KSEB and KWA. The main reason for these incidents is that the contractors purchase bad or low quality items/machinery for the works. More than 50 per cent of the cash for a project goes as bribe to the officials concerned for getting the contract. Less than 50 per cent comes into the pocket of the contractor, and he in turn deducts his share from this amount and only less than 25 per cent of the actual amount will be spent on raw materials and machinery for the project. The politicians play a crucial role in this. There are bribes for the politicians, from local area to Minister level. The public, including the government contractors, become the scapegoats.

S.N. Thiruvazhiode

Kochi

Rising fears

The Panniar pipe burst has brought dismay and fear to those residing near dams and other water sources. It is shocking that the people who lost their lives were trying to close the valve of the pipe. Unfortunately, like the Thattekkad accident, the danger of such a pipeline was revealed only when an accident occurred. It has been a common trend in the State that we wait for accidents to happen, so as to wake up and rush to take precautionary measures.

The safety of the people in those places is a matter of concern in the coming days. The government has already delayed the rescue operations after this accident by deploying the Army to search for the missing bodies only Sunday. The State has received rain at an alarming rate, the concerned department ought to have taken measures to mend the defective pipelines at least during this period.

Krishna K.

Poonithura

Danger is closer at hand

Even though the penstock accident is very serious, mercifully the consequences have not been disastrous in terms of fatalities. Furthermore, whatever the real reasons, accidents of this kind are rare, perhaps because security and supervision are fairly effective.

However, it is downstream of the power distribution system that focus needs to be more intense and purposeful.

The common distribution pole, although often made of durable pre-stressed concrete, usually houses cobweb-like strands of cables/wires. A gentle breeze or a slight drizzle can play havoc with these wires, and the consequences may vary from a localised supply failure to wires falling off to electrocute passers-by.

Transformers located in or near public spaces can be even more dangerous in case of malfunctioning. Being so located and at handy heights, transformers can also be a means for miscreants to harm the public.

Underground distribution being unfeasible yet, poles may be redesigned to house adequately-sized distribution boxes to accommodate circuitry and connection ports in an orderly, compact and secure manner.

Devraj Sambasivan

Alappuzha

Tip of the iceberg

Apathy is the root-cause of the penstock pipe burst and the resultant loss of eight precious lives, apart from the material loss running into crores. It is beyond any stretch of imagination how the KSEB could afford to leave the penstock pipes unattended, leaking for months together, considering the pressure that builds up and the power it could unleash.

The present disaster is a tip of the iceberg. When a top bureaucrat remarked about a deal in KSEB as “preposterous,” it implied the same for many an affair therein, with perilous ramifications. The engineering corporates who established/installed the infrastructure are marginalised or eliminated from maintaining them later on; for considerations that have nothing to do with power generation. It is high time that the authorities concerned became utmost cautious and steadfast in maintaining the installations and paid due emphasis to this core sector which fuels development in all other sectors in the State.

P. George Daniel

Kochi

Pointer to inefficiency

The incident of penstock pipe bursting in Panniar is very unfortunate. It proves the inefficiency and lack of strictness of the KSEB. The government should be aware of it. As the cause of the burst is rust, the penstock pipes and valves should be changed. The safety of people living in places where the water pipes pass through should be ensured. The electricity board or any concerned official must inform the people before repairs are undertaken in an area, assuring their safety. The Board must reopen the closed dam safety offices and recall the redeployed employees and set up maintenance offices and telecommunication systems at generating stations.

Rasi C.

Kannur

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