PROBLEMS THAT PLAGUE HEC PEOPLE

Osama Maasar
People of the IEC area seem to have reconciled to the day-to-day problems like, irregular water and electrically supply, choked drains, seepage accumulated garbage mounds and what nt. The cavelier attitude of the HEC. Town and Administration Department has only made the residents, also indifferent to the problems that they endure without a word of complaint.
The residents living in ‘A’ type, ‘B’ type and ‘C-D’ type employees quarters have become used to the foul smell of the overflowing drains and gutters. When asked about their devil-may-care attitude to the filth and squalar around, the residents allege that their repeated complaints about choked drains garbage heaps and irregular water supply all have fallen flat on the Town and Administration Department officials. As their runabouts have proved time, time and again exercises in futility, they now feel it is a waste of time and hence they have also stopped to bother about the problems.
The Town and Administration Department officials have their side of the story as well.
According to Messrs Sarkar and Bhattacharya who are In-charge of civic problems, they entertain the complaints giving top priority to problems like disruption of water and power supply. The rest of them are attended to depending on the -availability of sapres for repairs which, according to the residents, are always out of stock. For non-available of spares, the department takes weeks if not months to undertake minor repairs like fixing fuse etc.
So far as the water supply in the HEC areas are concerned the Town and Administration Department officials say, the only water source is Latin Hills Reservoir.
Once 1t only HEC colony which used to get water supply from this sources, but in the tune come areas like, NIFF complex, Aal Nagar and various ancillary industries that have mushroomed around the HEC have l started getting water from Latnta reservoir. This has upset the demand and supply factor. Un-authorised connections, choking and leaking of pipes have only made things worse. Many residents of first and second floor have to use Tulu pumps as the pressure Is not adequate enough.
Apart from civic problems, irregular power supply is also a cause of concern for most of the residents of ‘A’ type, ‘B’ type and ‘C-D’ type quarters.
Many of the A and B type quarters have extension annexe built by the residents which in crease the load on the transformers. Burning of transformers are frequent in the area as a result.
The demand for supply of power has increased from 40(300 watt to 12.5 megawatt. Now there are 20 transformers In the colony corm pared to only three some ten years ago.
The Town and Administration Department officials confessed that the sum of revenue returns to the department is not proportionate to the quantum of power supply. This is, it Is said mainly due to the fact that many residents have tampered with the meters.
Thus, it can be said, while on hte one hand the HEC Town and Ad ministration Department is not compable enough to deal with the diverse problems, the residents too are quite irresponsible and to be blamed for the hardships they are suffering from on the other.