Guwahati: As the temperature in Guwahati soared as high as 37 degrees celsius, a transformer caught fire at the main B Barooah Road in the city on Monday.
The location where the fire broke out at about 4:30 pm is one of the busiest commercial hubs in the city. To supply electricity to the several commercial complexes and residential buildings around B Barooah Road, there exist only two old and dingy transformers.
Two fire tenders arrived to douse the flames at the scene almost 30 minutes after the fire started.
Although the fire caused no injuries or casualties, the fire created a commotion among local residents and commuters, causing traffic congestion in parts of Ulubari, B Barooah Road and Guwahati Club.
Highlighting the need for new transformers to replace the older ones in the B Barooah area, several locals pointed out that electricity consumption in the area increases manifold during summer and that the two old transformers can no longer carry the load as the number of buildings has increased exponentially.
Residents claim that they lodged many complaints with the APDCL regarding the replacement of the transformers, but so far no action has been taken. They added that power outages have been frequent this summer.
Dear Reader,
Every day, our team at EastMojo travels through rain, rough roads, and remote hills to bring you stories that matter – stories from your town, your people, your Northeast.
We do this because we believe in truthful, independent journalism. No big corporate backing, no government pressure – just honest reporting by local journalists who live and breathe the same air you do.
But to keep doing this work, we need you. Your small contribution helps us pay our reporters fairly, reach places others ignore, and keep asking the tough questions.
If you believe the Northeast deserves its own fearless voice, stand with us.
Support independent journalism. Be a Member.
Thank you,
Karma Paljor
Editor-in-Chief, eastmojo.com
Locals also pointed out that as the PVC used in the electrical cables rises during summers, alternative fire resistant material for the cables should be used, adding that when they report short circuits, APDCL workers only do temporary repair work.
The transformers have been faulty for years now, they said.
Another local alleged that as the electricity board has neglected their complaints and the power outages caused by faulty transformers in the area have been so problematic that local residents have had to fix the transformers on their own every once in awhile.
Also Read | Assam: Environmentalists envisage ‘zero waste village’ near Chandubi lake
Facing same issue since last 3 years no action taken by APDCL till now. In our Maligaon Area too the transformer near the Goal Park is too faulty and we logged many complaint to replace it or add a new one as during the summer season the electricity consumption increases we get an average of 130 voltage and some times it’s below 100v which is too low and this happens every year so we complain about it but they don’t do anything to fix it.